Open AccessDiabetes and Hypertension Prevalence in Homeless Adults in the United States: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Author(s) -
Rebecca Bernstein,
Linda N. Meurer,
Ellen Plumb,
Jeffrey L. Jackson
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2014.302330
Subject(s) - medicine , confidence interval , diabetes mellitus , meta analysis , national health and nutrition examination survey , population , prevalence , national health interview survey , epidemiology , gerontology , medline , demography , disease , environmental health , endocrinology , law , sociology , political science
We estimated hypertension and diabetes prevalence among US homeless adults compared with the general population, and investigated prevalence trends. We systematically searched 5 databases for published studies (1980-2014) that included hypertension or diabetes prevalence for US homeless adults, pooled disease prevalence, and explored heterogeneity sources. We used the National Health Interview Survey for comparison. We included data from 97366 homeless adults. The pooled prevalence of self-reported hypertension was 27.0% (95% confidence interval=23.8%, 29.9%; n=43 studies) and of diabetes was 8.0% (95% confidence interval=6.8%, 9.2%; n=39 studies). We found no difference in hypertension or diabetes prevalence between the homeless and general population. Additional health care and housing resources are needed to meet the significant, growing burden of chronic disease in the homeless population.