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Health Conditions Among Individuals with a History of Homelessness Research Brief

Publication Date

Health Conditions Among Individuals with a History of Homelessness
ASPE RESEARCH BRIEF

Harper Sutherland, Mir M. Ali, and Emily Rosenoff

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation

January 2021

Link to HTML Version (16 PDF pages)


ABSTRACT: This paper uses a proprietary data set with electronic health records of more than 54,000 individuals with ICD-10 code of homelessness between 2015 and 2019. The paper found that for many chronic conditions, people with a history of homelessness have a greater prevalence than a comparison cohort of individuals matched on age and gender. In addition, the cohort with a history of homelessness had twice the rate of ever having head injuries and high rates of viral hepatitis, alcohol abuse, and opioid abuse.

This brief was prepared through intramural research by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Behavioral Health, Disability, and Aging Policy. For additional information about this subject, you can visit the BHDAP home page at https://aspe.hhs.gov/bhdap or contact the ASPE Project Officers at HHS/ASPE/BHDAP, Room 424E, H.H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20201; Mir.Ali@hhs.gov, Emily.Rosenoff@hhs.gov.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions and views expressed in this brief are those of the authors. They do not reflect the views of the Department of Health and Human Services, the contractor or any other funding organization. This brief was completed and submitted on July 2020.