title: Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among homeless people in Athens area: a cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Homelessness is a chronic social phenomenon in European and other Western cities. In the recent years, the number of homeless people in Greece, mainly in Athens, is also increasing.
  
  
  METHODS
  The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among a sample of 254 homeless people, using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.). The sample was drawn from the existing shelters, soup kitchens, and the streets.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample was predominantly male (74 %) with mean age 51 years, being in their majority homeless for over 25 months, 27 % of them living in the streets. The vast majority of the sample was single or separated with an education level <12 years. Current prevalence of psychiatric disorders was 56.7 % with 20.8 % comorbidity. For psychotic and mood disorders, current prevalence rates were 13 and 16 %, respectively. One year prevalence of alcohol and drug dependence was found to be low. Logistic regression analysis revealed that being older with higher number of months living in the streets and exposed to high frequency of adverse social events, increase the likelihood to become a psychiatric case. Finally, the vast majority of the identified psychiatric cases were lacking any current psychiatric care.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The magnitude of the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity was more than three times higher than that of the general population in Athens. Implications for psychosocial care and the organization of a support network for the homeless people are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health and Behavioral Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of Athens, Athens, Greece. madianos@nurs.uoa.gr
authors.forename: Michael G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Madianos
authors.forename: Paraskevi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chondraki
authors.forename: George N
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006115:Greece / Q000453:epidemiology; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D009017:Morbidity; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult