{"title":"Frostbite Injuries in Chicago's Unsheltered Population.","authors":"Owen Lewer, Cassandra Singler, Emily Wong, Danielle McGinnis, Theresa Nguyen","doi":"10.1353/hpu.2025.a951597","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People experiencing unsheltered homelessness (PEUH) have an increased risk of frostbite injury, which can be a dangerous and debilitating condition. Our study aims to determine the prevalence, incidence, and impact of frostbite in the unsheltered population in Chicago and nearby suburbs. We administered a survey at a Chicago Transit Authority metro station in suburban Cook County to assess the frequency of frostbite injury and the circumstances surrounding frostbite in this community. Our results demonstrated that frostbite is both common (incidence rate (IR) =1271.67 cases of frostbite per 100,000 life-years (LY)) and highly morbid (IR=46.24 amputations per 100,000 LY) in PEUH in Chicago. We hope to include more street medicine partners to raise awareness about the impact of frostbite injury in the unsheltered population and advocate for improved emergency preparedness plans during the cold winter season.</p>","PeriodicalId":48101,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved","volume":"36 1","pages":"284-294"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2025.a951597","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"HEALTH POLICY & SERVICES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
People experiencing unsheltered homelessness (PEUH) have an increased risk of frostbite injury, which can be a dangerous and debilitating condition. Our study aims to determine the prevalence, incidence, and impact of frostbite in the unsheltered population in Chicago and nearby suburbs. We administered a survey at a Chicago Transit Authority metro station in suburban Cook County to assess the frequency of frostbite injury and the circumstances surrounding frostbite in this community. Our results demonstrated that frostbite is both common (incidence rate (IR) =1271.67 cases of frostbite per 100,000 life-years (LY)) and highly morbid (IR=46.24 amputations per 100,000 LY) in PEUH in Chicago. We hope to include more street medicine partners to raise awareness about the impact of frostbite injury in the unsheltered population and advocate for improved emergency preparedness plans during the cold winter season.
期刊介绍:
The journal has as its goal the dissemination of information on the health of, and health care for, low income and other medically underserved communities to health care practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders who are in a position to effect meaningful change. Issues dealt with include access to, quality of, and cost of health care.