Homeless Patients in the Emergency Department

Aim: In our study, we aimed to investigate the demographic features and clinical conditions of homeless people admitted to the emergency department (ED). Materials and Methods: Patients aged ≥18 years who had social service consultations were retrospectively examined. Demographic features, admission time, complaints on admission, length of stay in the ED, clinical tests performed, diagnoses, clinical outcomes (admission to the hospital, discharge, operation, or death) and ED costs were recorded. Results: The study included 39 patients. The median age of the patients was 63 years [interquartile range (IQR): 55-77 years, minimum: 30 years, maximum: 91 years]; 89.7% of the patients were male and 74.4% were absolute homeless. There were an average of 8.7 admissions per month. The median length of stay in the ED was 277 min. The median ED cost per admission was 103 Turkish Liras. Referral of homeless patients resulted in admission to hospital wards in 32 (9.2%) cases and admission to the intensive care unit in 41 (11.8%) cases. Conclusion: In addition to acute disease management, specific approaches should be planned for homeless patients in EDs, which are possibly the only health units that homeless patients refer to for their health problems. (JAEM 2015; 14: 70-4)