Health of the homeless in Dublin: has anything changed in the context of Ireland's economic boom?
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: In the context of the Irish economic boom we assessed the health, service utilisation and risk behaviour of homeless people in north Dublin city and compared findings with a 1997 study. METHODS: A census of homeless adults in north Dublin city was conducted in 2005 using an adapted interviewer-administered questionnaire from the 1997 study. RESULTS: A total of 363 (70%) of the target population participated. Compared to 1997 the population was younger (81% versus 70% under 45 years, P < 0.01) with a higher proportion of women (39% versus 29%, P < 0.05) and long-term homeless (66% versus 44%, P < 0.001). Drug misuse superseded alcohol as the main addiction with a doubling of the proportion reporting past or current drug use (64% versus 32%, P < 0.001). The prevalence of comparable physical chronic conditions was largely unchanged while depression (51% versus 35%, P < 0.01) and anxiety (42% versus 32%, P < 0.05) had increased. There were high rates of blood-borne infections, such as HIV (6%), hepatitis B (5%) and hepatitis C (36%) in 2005 and dental problems (53%) all of which can be associated with drug use. Access to free healthcare had not increased. Similar proportions reported not having medical cards (40% versus 45% NS). Homeless people continued to have higher usage of secondary care services than the general population. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a changing disease profile among the homeless population consistent with a growing drug using population. It confirms that the homeless population in Dublin in terms of health remain excluded from the benefits of an economic boom despite a government policy aimed at redressing social inclusion.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
For hepatitis C virus infection, when two studies with questionnaire-based diagnosis and a third with oral fluid-based diagnosis were excluded, prevalence estimates ranged from 3.9% to 35.3% with substantial heterogeneity (χ2=257, p<0.0001; I2=95.3%, 95% CI 93.5-96.7).
“when two studies were excluded in which diagnosis was based on questionnaires21, 22 and a third in which it was based on analysis of oral fluid,56 estimates of prevalence ranged from 3·9% to 35·3% with substantial heterogeneity (χ2=257, p<0·0001; I2=95·3%, 95% CI 93·5–96·7).”
From Prevalence of tuberculosis, hepatitis C virus, and HIV in homeless people: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2012) · cites this paper as [22]
For HIV infection, when seven questionnaire studies and one oral fluid-based study were excluded, prevalence estimates ranged from 0.3% to 21.1% with substantial heterogeneity (χ2=494, p<0.0001; I2=95.7%, 95% CI 94.6-96.7).
“when seven questionnaire studies21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 and one study based on analysis of oral fluid61 were excluded, estimates of prevalence ranged from 0·3% to 21·1% with substantial heterogeneity (χ2=494, p<0·0001; I2=95·7%, 95% CI 94·6–96·7).”
From Prevalence of tuberculosis, hepatitis C virus, and HIV in homeless people: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2012) · cites this paper as [22]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
No references could be resolved yet.
Research works printed but not linked: 10
- 1 Wright NM, Tompkins CN. How can health services effectively meet the health needs of homeless people? Br J Gen Pract 2006;56:286-93.
- 7 Lawless M, Corr C. Drug use among the homeless population in Ireland . Dublin: NCAD, 2005.
- 9 Kelleher C, Friel S, Nic Gabhainn S, Tay JB. Socio-demographic predictors of self-rated health in the Republic of Ireland: findings from the National Survey on Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition, SLAN. Soc Sci Med 2003;57:477-86.
- 10 Finkelstein J, Parker R. Homeless children in America: taking the next step. Am J Dis Child 1993;147:520-1.
- 12 Vostanis P, Cumella, S, Briscoe J, Oyebode F. Psychosocial characteristics of homeless children: a preliminary study. Eur J Psychiatry 1996;10:108-17.
- 13 Mandelberg JH, Kuhn RE, Kohn MA. Epidemiologic analysis of an urban, public emergency department's frequent users. Acad Emerg Med 2000;7:637-46.
- 14 Dublin Area Hepatitis C Initiative Group. Hepatitis C among drug users: consensus guidelines on management in general practice. Ir J Med Sci 2004;173:145-50.
- 15 Wright NM, Tompkins CN. How can health services effectively meet the health needs of homeless people? Br J Gen Pract 2006;56:286-93.
- 20 O'Toole TP, Gibbon JL, Seltzer D, et al. Urban homelessness and poverty during economic prosperity and welfare reform: changes in self-reported comorbidities, insurance, and sources for usual care, 1995-1997. J Urban Health 2002;79:200-10.
- 25 Saris AJ, Bartley B, Kierans C, et al. Culture and the state: institutionalising 'the underclass' in the new Ireland. City: Analysis of Urban Trends, Culture, Theory, Policy, Action 2002;6:173-93.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Fazel, S., Geddes, J. R., & Kushel, M. (2014) · The Lancet · doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(14)61132-6 · Cited by 1,568 · see citing works
Beijer, U., Wolf, A., & Fazel, S. (2012) · The Lancet Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1016/s1473-3099(12)70177-9 · Cited by 357 · see citing works
Sun, S., Irestig, R., Burström, B., Beijer, U., & Burström, K. (2012) · Scandinavian Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1177/1403494811435493 · Cited by 79 · see citing works
Keogh, C., O’Brien, K. K., Hoban, A., O’Carroll, A., & Fahey, T. (2015) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0716-4 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-citationBeijer, U., & Andreasson, S. (2010) · The European Journal of Public Health · doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckq033 · Cited by 45 · see citing works
Unique health care utilization patterns in a homeless population in Ghent
Verlinde, E., Verdée, T., Van de Walle, M., Art, B., De Maeseneer, J., & Willems, S. (2010) · BMC Health Services Research · doi:10.1186/1472-6963-10-242 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
- Authors
- O'Carroll, A., & O'Reilly, F.
- Affiliations
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (IE)
- Venue
- The European Journal of Public Health
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2008-06-25
- Volume
- 18
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 448-453
- ISSN
- 1101-1262 (ISSN-L)
- 1464-360X
- OpenAlex
- W2043147353
- Cited by
- 39
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 4 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2012: 2
- FWCI
- 3.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- European Journal of Public Health (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland
- Health Service Executive
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Homelessness and Social Issues
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk
- Social Sciences › Urban Studies › Urban and Rural Development Challenges
- Keywords
- homelessness, health of homeless people, drug abuse, alcohol consumption, depression, anxiety, bloodborne infections, HIV, hepatitis C, hepatitis B, dental problems, health care access, social exclusion, economic boom
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Economics, Female, Health Services, Health Status Indicators, Ill-Housed Persons, Humans, Ireland, Male, Middle Aged, Risk-Taking, Censuses, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
