title: Homelessness among a nationally representative sample of US veterans: prevalence, service utilization, and correlates.
abstract: To examine the prevalence of lifetime homelessness among veterans and use of Veterans Affairs (VA) homeless services, as well as their association with sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.
  
  
  
  A nationally representative sample of 1533 US veterans was surveyed July-August 2015.
  
  
  
  Among all veterans, 8.5 % reported any lifetime homelessness in their adult life, but only 17.2 % of those reported using VA homeless services. Prevalence of homelessness and VA homeless service use did not significantly differ by gender. Being low income, aged 35-44, and having poor mental and physical health were each independently associated with lifetime homelessness. Veterans who were White or lived in rural areas were significantly less likely to have used VA homeless services.
  
  
  
  Homelessness remains a substantial problem across different generations of veterans. The low reported uptake of VA homeless services suggests there are barriers to care in this population, especially for veterans who live in rural areas. Governmental resources dedicated to veteran homelessness should be supported, and obtaining accurate prevalence estimates are important to tracking progress over time.
authors.affiliation: US Department of Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, 950 Campbell Ave., 151D, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA. Jack.Tsai@yale.edu.|Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA. Jack.Tsai@yale.edu.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10032, USA.|New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY, 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Bruce
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Link
authors.affiliation: US Department of Veterans Affairs New England Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, 950 Campbell Ave., 151D, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA.|Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Rosenheck
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA.|US Department of Veterans Affairs National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, West Haven, CT, 06516, USA.
authors.forename: Robert H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Pietrzak
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015995:Prevalence; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014728:Veterans / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: Epidemiology; Health services; Homelessness; Veterans