Alcoholism and somatic comorbidity among homeless people in Mannheim, Germany

Salize, Hans Joachim; Dillmann-Lange, C.; Stern, Gerlinde; Kentner-Figura, Beate; Stamm, Klaus; Rössler, Wulf; Henn, Fritz A.

doi:10.1046/j.1360-0443.2002.00235.x

Cited by 32 publications

(44 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Another observation argues in favour of the view that ocular morbidity in our sample is rather under- than overestimated: homeless people in general tend towards too optimistic a self-assessment of their health status. This has been described as the so-called ‘Siegfried’ or ‘invulnerability syndrome’ [13]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Homelessness a Risk Factor for Eye Disease?

Pitz

Kramann²,

Krummenauer³

et al. 2005

Ophthalmologica

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Background: There is general agreement on the presence of a correlation between poverty and impaired health. However, only scarce data are available on whether this also applies to the incidence of eye disease. The present study was carried out to evaluate the prevalence of ocular disease in homeless people in Germany. Methods: 107 homeless people (97 male, 10 female; mean age 49 years, range 18–81 years) treated in specialised social service institutions were investigated prospectively according to a standardised ophthalmological screening protocol. This comprised visual acuity, assessment of pupillary light reaction, intra-ocular pressure, slit lamp examination as well as funduscopy. Results: The median best-corrected visual acuity of all 213 eyes examined was 0.8 (range: no light perception to 1.25). 74 eyes of a subgroup of 50 patients showed one or more of the following disorders: 32% of the patients suffered from external eye disease, 8% exhibited a cataract associated with a visual acuity of 0.63 or below. 6% of the patients had optic nerve atrophy, and 4% suffered from amblyopia. Diabetic retinopathy as well as age-related macular degeneration were detected in 2%, while anophthalmos, lid malposition and traumatic choroidal rupture were noted in 1% of patients. The median visual acuity measured in these 74 eyes was 0.5 (range: no light perception to 1.25), which differs significantly from the acuity of 0.8 in the entire study population (p < 0.001). The prevalence of legal blindness according to WHO criteria was 2%. Conclusions: The present study revealed an unexpectedly high prevalence of optic nerve atrophy in homeless people. The prevalence for cataract and legal blindness was slightly higher than in representative epidemiological investigations. Thus, homelessness seems to be correlated with an increased ocular morbidity. As best-corrected visual acuity differed significantly between eyes with and those without eye disease, the assessment of this parameter may serve as a cost-effective first-stage screening method.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Is Homelessness a Risk Factor for Eye Disease?

Pitz

Kramann²,

Krummenauer³

et al. 2005

Ophthalmologica

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“…In Dortmund kann davon ausgegangen werden, dass sich täglich 900 bzw. auf das Jahr bezogen 1 500 alleinstehende Wohnungslose im Stadtgebiet aufhalten (Ärztekammer Westfalen-Lippe 1998 (Sperling 1985;John 1988;Locher 1990;Trabert 1997;Salize et al 2002 …”

Section: Stichprobenziehungunclassified

“…Dabei wurde die hohe Morbidität der untersuchten Gruppe bestätigt; allerdings ist auch diese Studie aufgrund der kleinen Samplegrösse und der fehlenden Repräsentativität des Samples von eingeschränkter Aussagekraft. In einer neueren Studie zu somatischen Erkrankungen bei Wohnungslosen in Deutschland fand Salize eine Erkrankungshäufigkeit von etwa 60 % (Salize et al 2002). Weitere Studien untersuchten Nutzungspopulationen spezieller medizinischer Angebote für Wohnungslose (Egen 1998;Doering et al 2002).…”

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Pr�valenz k�rperlicher Erkrankungen, Gesundheitsverhalten und Nutzung des Gesundheitssystems bei alleinstehenden wohnungslosen M�nnern: eine Querschnittsuntersuchung

Völlm

Becker

Kunstmann

2004

Sozial- und Pr�ventivmedizin/Social and Preventive Medicine

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“…[1][2][3][4][5] Meta-analysis of 29 surveys published between 1996 and 2007 estimated that the prevalence of psychotic illness among the homeless in Western countries was 12.7% (95% confidence interval [CI], 10.2-15.2%), major depression was 11.4% (95%CI, 8.4-14.4%), personality disorder was 23.1% (95%CI, 15.5-30.8%), alcohol dependence was 37.9% (95%CI, 27.8-48.0%), and drug dependence was 24.4% (95%CI, 27.8-48.0%). 6 Homeless people in Western countries are more likely to have alcohol and drug dependence, and the prevalence of mental illness and personality disorders are higher compared to the age-matched general population.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of mental illness, intellectual disability, and developmental disability among homeless people in Nagoya, Japan: A case series study

Nishio

Yamamoto

Ueki

et al. 2015

Psychiatry Clin Neurosci

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Aim:While it has been reported that the prevalence of mental illness is higher in homeless people than in the national population, few studies have investigated the prevalence of intellectual and developmental disability among the homeless. In this study, we conducted a survey to comprehensively assess these mental problems among homeless people in Nagoya, Japan. Methods:The subjects were 18 homeless men. Mental illness was diagnosed with semi-structured interviews conducted by psychiatrists. We used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III to diagnose intellectual disability. Discrepancies between Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III subtest scores were used as criteria for developmental disability.Results: Eleven of the 18 participants were diagnosed with mental illness: six with mood disorder, two with psychotic disorder, and six with alcohol problems. The mean IQ of all subjects was 83.4 ± 27.4. The 95% confidence interval (CI) was 96.2-69.1. Seven participants were found to have intellectual disability. Three men showed discrepancies of more than 10 between subtest scores, and all of them were diagnosed with a mental illness. We divided the participants into four groups: those with mental illness only; those with intellectual disability only; those with both problems; and those without diagnosis. The men with intellectual disability only were significantly younger and had been homeless since a younger age than the other groups. Participants diagnosed with a mental illness had been homeless for longer than those without mental health problems. Conclusion:Although the sample size was limited, this study revealed the high prevalence of mental illness and intellectual disability, 61% (95%CI, 35-83%) and 39% (95%CI, 17-64%), respectively, in homeless people in Nagoya, Japan.

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Alcoholism and somatic comorbidity among homeless people in Mannheim, Germany

Abstract: Alcoholism is a major contributor to the physical ill-health of homeless people. Treatment or rehabilitation of addictive behaviour among the homeless should be of major concern for adequate service planning or provision.

Cited by 32 publications

References 20 publications

Is Homelessness a Risk Factor for Eye Disease?

Is Homelessness a Risk Factor for Eye Disease?

Pr�valenz k�rperlicher Erkrankungen, Gesundheitsverhalten und Nutzung des Gesundheitssystems bei alleinstehenden wohnungslosen M�nnern: eine Querschnittsuntersuchung

Prevalence of mental illness, intellectual disability, and developmental disability among homeless people in Nagoya, Japan: A case series study

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