Photo Credit: Bodnarchuk

The following is a summary of “Examining the Role of Duration and Frequency of Homelessness on Health Outcomes Among Unsheltered Young Adults,” published in the December 2023  issue of Adolescent Health by Richards, et al.

For a study, researchers sought to look at how long and how many times young people who are homeless and don’t have a place to stay were affected by their health. 

They examined the Los Angeles County homeless youth demographic reports from 2018 and 2019. They discussed five main health outcomes: mental health, drug use problems, disease, and physical health. There were three groups of respondents based on how long they had been homeless: short-term (less than a year) with one episode of homelessness, episodic (more than one episode of homelessness in a year), and long-term (constant homelessness for more than a year). 

They used weighted bivariate and multivariate logistic regression models to look at the link between the homeless trajectory group and health, considering sociodemographic factors and structural stressors. Compared to national rates, young people who did not have a place to live had high rates of mental illness and drug use. People who had been homeless for a long time were much more likely than people who had been homeless for a short time to say they had a mental health condition (53.3% vs. 39.8%, P <.001), a drug use problem (25.5% vs. 18.3%, P <.001), or a physical condition (26.0% vs. 15.6%, P =.008).  A mental health problem was more likely to be reported by people who had episodes (50.5%, P <.001). In multivariate models, long-term respondents had twice the chance of having three or more illnesses (OR = 2.14, P <.05) and any health condition (OR = 2.00, P <.01) as short-term respondents. They also had a much higher odds of having a physical health condition (OR = 1.64, P <.05).

Youth who were homeless for longer periods more often had much worse health results. The link between longer length and worse health stayed the same in multiple models. Longer periods of being homeless without a place to stay may lead to physical and mental health issues.

Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1054139X23003233