title: Health status and utilisation of the healthcare system by homeless and non-homeless people in Vienna.
abstract: This case-control study describes the health situation, internal and external resources, and utilisation of healthcare facilities by a marginalised population consisting of homeless people in Vienna, Austria, compared with a non-homeless control population. Among the homeless group, participants lived in halfway houses (70%) or permanent housing (30%) in Vienna. Personal interviews were conducted in July 2010 with 66 homeless individuals, and their data were compared with data from non-homeless subjects from the Austrian Health Interview Survey using conditional logistic regression. Compared with the control group, homeless persons suffered more often from chronic diseases (P < 0.001) and rated their health considerably lower than the comparison group (P < 0.001). Homeless people suffered significantly more often from psychiatric disorders, respiratory diseases, hypertension (P < 0.001), digestive system diseases (P = 0.002) and heart diseases (P = 0.015) in comparison with the control group. Additionally, among homeless and non-homeless individuals, the former more often consulted a general practitioner in a period of 28 days (P = 0.002). A significantly greater proportion of homeless people did not have any teeth (P = 0.024) and smoked significantly more (P = 0.002). The results demonstrate deficits in the areas of health, health behaviour, and individual and social resources of homeless people, even though homeless people seek medical care at a higher rate than controls. Continuing health promotion projects for this high-risk group and the strengthening of social resources are recommended.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Medicine and Epidemiology, Medical University Graz, Graz, Austria.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: Katharina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Diehl
authors.forename: Livia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mutsch
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Löffler
authors.forename: Nathalie
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Burkert
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Freidl
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001317:Austria / Q000453:epidemiology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: chronic disease; health situation; health status; homeless persons; utilisation of healthcare facilities