title: Sociodemographic and clinical profile of homeless mentally ill inpatients in a north Indian medical university.
abstract: Homeless mentally ill (HMI) persons are a highly vulnerable and socially disadvantaged population, deprived of even the basic minimal human rights. Data on HMI in India is scarce. This retrospective chart review aimed to evaluate socio-demographic, socio-cultural and clinical profile of HMI patients, and to study reasons of homelessness and outcome related variables in these patients. One hundred and forty homeless persons were admitted to the department of psychiatry of a north Indian medical university from February 2005 to July 2011. Of these, one hundred and twenty-seven (90.7%) had psychiatric illness and six had only intellectual disabilities. The majority of HMI persons were illiterate/minimally literate, adult, male, and from low socioeconomic and rural backgrounds. Most of the patients (55.7%) had more than one psychiatric diagnosis. HMI had considerably high rates of co-morbid substance abuse (44.3%), intellectual disabilities (38.6%) and physical problems (75.4%). Most (84.3%) were mentally ill before leaving home and 54.3% left home themselves due to the illness. Most HMI responded to the treatment. After treatment of mental illness, it was possible to reintegrate about 70% of the patients into their families. Families were willing to accept and support them. Untreated/inadequately treated mental illness was the most common reason for homelessness. Easily accessible treatment and rehabilitation facilities at low cost can improve the plight of such patients. Further research in this area is required.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, King George Medical University, Shahmeena Road, Chowk, Lucknow 226003, UP, India. Electronic address: dradarshtripathi@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tripathi
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nischal
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Dalal
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Agarwal
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Trivedi
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012111:Residence Characteristics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Co-morbidity; Homeless mentally ill; Homelessness; India; Reasons for homelessness; Socio-demography of homeless