PMID: 8947803Nov 1, 1996Paper

The homeless in the emergency department: a patient profile

Journal of Accident & Emergency Medicine
G F Little, D P Watson

Abstract

To explore the possibility that homeless people use the accident and emergency (A&E) department as a substitute for primary care and to quantify the role of alcohol abuse in their attendances. The study period lasted six months. Attendances of all patients registering with "No fixed abode" as their address were analysed from the A&E notes. Information gathered included details of the presenting complaint, general practitioner (GP) registration, and alcohol involvement in the presentation. 135 homeless patients attended the department 233 times; 91% of patients were male with an average age of 40 years; 46% of attendances were during office hours; 81.5% of presentations were for minor problems; 65.2% of patients had co-existing medical problems, with 14.8% having a chronic alcohol problem; 23.7% of patients gave details of their GP and the remainder were either not registered or did not know their GP registration status; 29.6% of attendances directly involved alcohol and another 10.3% were requests for inpatient or outpatient alcohol detoxification; 42.1% of patients questioned said they were aware of the medical facilities available to homeless people in the community; 52.6% of those questioned said they preferred being seen in...Continue Reading

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Citations

Aug 21, 2010·BMC Health Services Research·Evelyn VerlindeSara Willems
Aug 13, 2014·Journal of Research in Pharmacy Practice·Mok Thoong ChongAnupam Bishayee
Oct 8, 2008·Annals of Emergency Medicine·Robert M RodriguezDaniel Poon
Aug 19, 2015·Academic Emergency Medicine : Official Journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine·Connie BohMarcus Eh Ong
Mar 21, 2006·Annals of Emergency Medicine·James V DunfordSuzanne P Lindsay
Nov 3, 2001·Academic Emergency Medicine : Official Journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine·J D'AmoreL Goldfrank
Sep 29, 2015·The British Journal of General Practice : the Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners·Rachel ScantleburyMark Ashworth
Aug 18, 2018·Prehospital Emergency Care : Official Journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors·Benjamin J W KuekMarcus E H Ong
Mar 26, 2008·British Journal of Community Nursing·Samantha Dorney-Smith
Jun 1, 2007·Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine·Aoife O'NeillRose Minton

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