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Risk Factors for Unplanned Hospital Admission in a Specialist Homeless General Practice Population the Relationship with Tri-morbidity (1).pdf (241.86 kB)

Risk factors for unplanned hospital admission in a specialist homeless general practice population – the relationship with tri-morbidity

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posted on 2023-06-09, 19:21 authored by Catherine Himsworth, Priyamvada Paudyal, Christopher Sargeant
Background ‘Tri-morbidity’ describes the complex comorbidity of chronic physical illness, mental illness, and alcohol and/or drug misuse within the homeless population. Poor health outcomes of homeless people are reflected by the higher rate of unplanned hospital admissions compared with the non-homeless population. Aim To identify whether tri-morbidity is a risk factor for unplanned hospital admissions in the homeless population. Design and setting A case–control study of patients who were registered with a specialist homeless GP surgery in Brighton (72 cases and 72 controls). Method Cases were defined as those who had =1 overnight hospital admission within a 12-month period. Controls were matched for demographics but with no hospital admission. The primary care record was analysed, and tri-morbidity entered into binomial logistic regression with admission as the dichotomous dependent variable. Results The logistic regression analysis demonstrated that other enduring mental health disorders and/or personality disorder (odds ratio [OR] 3.84, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.56 to 9.44), alcohol use (OR 2.92, 95% CI = 1.42 to 5.98), and gastrointestinal disorder (OR 2.90, 95% CI = 1.06 to 7.98) were independent risk factors for admission. Tri-morbidity increased odds of admission by more than four-fold (OR 4.19, 95% CI = 1.90 to 9.27). Conclusion This study shows that tri-morbidity is an important risk factor for unplanned hospital admissions among the homeless population, and provides an interesting starting point for the development of a risk stratification tool to identify those at risk of unplanned admission in this population.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Accepted version

Journal

British Journal of General Practice

ISSN

0960-1643

Publisher

Royal College of General Practitioners

Department affiliated with

  • BSMS Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2019-10-25

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2021-05-19

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2019-11-05

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