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Difficult behaviors in the emergency department: a cohort study of housed, homeless and alcohol dependent individuals.

ABSTRACT: This study contrasted annual rates of difficult behaviours in emergency departments among cohorts of individuals who were homeless and low-income housed and examined predictors of these events.Interviews in 1999 with men who were chronically homeless with drinking problems (CHDP) (n = 50), men from the general homeless population (GH) (n = 61), and men residing in low-income housing (LIH) (n = 58) were linked to catchment area emergency department records (n = 2817) from 1994 to 1999. Interview and hospital data were linked to measures of difficult behaviours.Among the CHDP group, annual rates of visits with difficult behaviours were 5.46; this was 13.4 (95% CI 10.3-16.5) and 14.3 (95% CI 11.2-17.3) times higher than the GH and LIH groups. Difficult behaviour incidents included physical violence, verbal abuse, uncooperativeness, drug seeking, difficult histories and security involvement. Difficult behaviours made up 57.54% (95% CI 55.43-59.65%), 24% (95% CI 19-29%), and 20% (95% CI 16-24%) of CHDP, GH and LIH visits. Among GH and LIH groups, 87% to 95% were never involved in verbal abuse or violence. Intoxication increased all difficult behaviours while decreasing drug seeking and leaving without being seen. Verbal abuse and violence were less likely among those housed, with odds ratios of 0.24 (0.08, 0.72) and 0.32 (0.15, 0.69), respectively.Violence and difficult behaviours are much higher among chronically homeless men with drinking problems than general homeless and low-income housed populations. They are concentrated among subgroups of individuals. Intoxication is the strongest predictor of difficult behaviour incidents.

SUBMITTER: Svoboda T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4412575 | biostudies-other | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Project description:BackgroundIndividuals under age 25 years are estimated to comprise one third of the homeless population nationally. Understanding the reasons for utilization of hospitals by homeless youth is important for optimizing disposition planning.ObjectivesObjectives of the present study were to: (1) report prevalence of emergency department (ED) and inpatient admissions among homeless and unstably housed youth; (2) describe demographic characteristics of those youth who seek hospital care; (3) describe their patterns of injury, illness, psychiatric, and substance use conditions; and (4) identify demographic and diagnostic predictors of ED visit or hospital readmission.MethodsRetrospective cohort study of 15-25-year-olds (N=402) who were admitted to the ED or inpatient floors of 2 urban teaching hospitals in King County, WA between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012 and whose address was "homeless" or "none" or a homeless shelter or service agency (ie, homeless or unstably housed), during any recorded encounter between July 1, 2009 and June 30, 2012.ResultsA total of 1151 ED visits and 227 inpatient admissions were documented. Fifty percent of patients had an ED visit or hospital readmission within 1 year, with 43.1% receiving care within 30 days of discharge. Cox regression showed that female individuals with an injury diagnosis (hazard ratio=1.74, 95% confidence interval=1.06, 2.85) and male individuals with an acute medical condition (hazard ratio=1.59, 95% confidence interval=1.09, 2.32) at index visit were more likely to have an ED visit or hospital readmission during the following year, as were patients who provided a private address at their index visit.ConclusionsHomeless young people who seek hospital care demonstrate a high rate of ED visits and hospital readmissions, with unique predictors of utilization associated with sex and housing status. Additional research is necessary to determine how best to transition these young people from hospital-based to community-based care.

Project description:ObjectivesPeople experiencing homelessness are frequent users of secondary care. Currently, there is no study of potentially preventable admissions for homeless patients in England. We aim to estimate the number of potentially preventable hospital admissions for homeless patients and compare to housed patients with similar characteristics.DesignRetrospective matched cohort study.SettingHospitals in England.Participants16 161 homeless patients and 74 780 housed patients aged 16-75 years who attended an emergency department (ED) in England in 2013/2014, matched on the basis of age, sex, ED attended and primary diagnosis.Primary and secondary outcome measuresAnnual counts of admissions, emergency admissions, ambulatory care-sensitive (ACS) emergency admissions, acute ACS emergency admissions and chronic ACS emergency admissions over the following 4 years (2014/2015-2017/2018). We additionally compare the prevalence of specific ACS conditions for homeless and housed patients.ResultsMean admissions per 1000 patients per year were 470 for homeless patients and 230 for housed patients. Adjusted for confounders, annual admissions were 1.79 times higher (incident rate ratio (IRR)=1.79; 95% CI 1.69 to 1.90), emergency admissions 2.08 times higher (IRR=2.08; 95% CI 1.95 to 2.21) and ACS admissions 1.65 times higher (IRR=1.65; 95% CI 1.51 to 1.80), compared with housed patients. The effect was greater for acute (IRR=1.78; 95% CI 1.64 to 1.93) than chronic (IRR=1.45; 95% CI 1.27 to 1.66) ACS conditions. ACS conditions that were relatively more common for homeless patients were cellulitis, convulsions/epilepsy and chronic angina.ConclusionsHomeless patients use hospital services at higher rates than housed patients, particularly emergency admissions. ACS admissions of homeless patients are higher which suggests some admissions may be potentially preventable with improved access to primary care. However, these admissions comprise a small share of total admissions.

Project description:BackgroundAs the U.S. homeless population grows, so has the challenge of providing effective care to homeless individuals. Understanding hospitals that achieve better outcomes after hospital discharge for homeless patients has important implications for making our health system more sustainable and equitable.ObjectiveTo determine whether homeless patients experience higher rates of readmissions and emergency department (ED) visits after hospital discharge than non-homeless patients, and whether the homeless patients exhibit lower rates of readmissions and ED visits after hospital discharge when they were admitted to hospitals experienced with the treatment of the homeless patients ("homeless-serving" hospitals-defined as hospitals in the top decile of the proportion of homeless patients).DesignA population-based longitudinal study, using the data including all hospital admissions and ED visits in FL, MA, MD, and NY in 2014.ParticipantsParticipants were 3,527,383 patients (median age [IQR]: 63 [49-77] years; 1,876,466 [53%] women; 134,755 [4%] homeless patients) discharged from 474 hospitals.Main measuresRisk-adjusted rates of 30-day all-cause readmissions and ED visits after hospital discharge.Key resultsAfter adjusting for potential confounders, homeless patients had higher rates of readmissions (adjusted rate, 27.3% vs. 17.5%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.93; 95% CI, 1.69-2.21; p < 0.001) and ED visits after hospital discharge (37.1% vs. 23.6%; aOR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.74-2.25; p < 0.001) compared with non-homeless patients. Homeless patients treated at homeless-serving hospitals exhibited lower rates of readmissions (23.9% vs. 33.4%; p < 0.001) and ED visits (31.4% vs. 45.4%; p < 0.001) after hospital discharge than homeless patients treated at non-homeless-serving hospitals.ConclusionsHomeless patients were more likely to be readmitted or return to ED within 30 days after hospital discharge, especially when they were treated at hospitals that treat a small proportion of homeless patients. These findings suggest that homeless patients may receive better discharge planning and care coordination when treated at hospitals experienced with caring for homeless people.

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Difficult behaviors in the emergency department: a cohort study of housed, homeless and alcohol dependent individuals.

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