Paige Zhang, K. Bassil, Stephanie Gower, M. Katić, A. Kiss, Evie Gogosis, Stephen W. Hwang
{"title":"Cold-related injuries in a cohort of homeless adults","authors":"Paige Zhang, K. Bassil, Stephanie Gower, M. Katić, A. Kiss, Evie Gogosis, Stephen W. Hwang","doi":"10.1080/10530789.2018.1523103","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT People experiencing homelessness have an increased risk of cold-related injuries. This study determined the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for cold-related injuries among homeless adults and low-income controls in Toronto, Canada. Homeless individuals were recruited at shelters and meal programs. Age- and sex-matched controls living in low-income neighborhoods were selected. ED utilization was ascertained over 4-years of follow-up (2005–9) using administrative databases. A total of 16 ED visits for cold-related injuries were observed among 587 homeless men and 296 homeless women. The rate of ED visits was 6.7 (95% CI, 4.2–12.4) per 1000 person-years of observation among homeless men and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.03–5.6) among homeless women. ED visit rates were significantly higher among homeless men compared to low-income men (P < 0.001) and significantly higher among homeless men compared to homeless women (P = 0.03). Targeted public health interventions are needed to reduce the risk of cold-related injuries among people experiencing homelessness.","PeriodicalId":45390,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.1000,"publicationDate":"2018-09-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.1080/10530789.2018.1523103","citationCount":"8","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10530789.2018.1523103","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"SOCIAL WORK","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 8
Abstract
ABSTRACT People experiencing homelessness have an increased risk of cold-related injuries. This study determined the rate of emergency department (ED) visits for cold-related injuries among homeless adults and low-income controls in Toronto, Canada. Homeless individuals were recruited at shelters and meal programs. Age- and sex-matched controls living in low-income neighborhoods were selected. ED utilization was ascertained over 4-years of follow-up (2005–9) using administrative databases. A total of 16 ED visits for cold-related injuries were observed among 587 homeless men and 296 homeless women. The rate of ED visits was 6.7 (95% CI, 4.2–12.4) per 1000 person-years of observation among homeless men and 0.9 (95% CI, 0.03–5.6) among homeless women. ED visit rates were significantly higher among homeless men compared to low-income men (P < 0.001) and significantly higher among homeless men compared to homeless women (P = 0.03). Targeted public health interventions are needed to reduce the risk of cold-related injuries among people experiencing homelessness.