Perception of health status by homeless US veterans.
Perceptions of health status among 331 homeless veterans and homeless nonveterans were examined. Homeless veterans were significantly less apt to perceive their health as fair/poor (8%) compared to non-veteran homeless men (19%). Homeless veterans were also more likely to report having a regular source of care (57% versus 36%). Logistic regression analysis indicated the adjusted odds of fair/poor health were more than two times greater for persons reporting depressive symptomatology than for those without this history; veterans continue to remain less likely to report fair/poor health than nonveterans. High rates of substance abuse were observed for the entire sample. Such differences in perceived health result in important health access issues.
Nyamathi
Adeline
A
School of Nursing, University of California-Los Angeles 90095-1702, USA. anyamath@sonnet.ucla.edu
Sands
Heather
H
Pattatucci-Aragón
Angela
A
Berg
Jill
J
Leake
Barbara
B
Hahn
Joan Earle
JE
Morisky
Donald
D
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D006304:Health Status; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014728:Veterans / Q000523:psychology*