RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis

Background In England in 2021, an estimated 274 000 people were homeless on a given night. It has long been recognised that physical and mental health of people who are homeless is poorer than for people who are housed. There are few peer-reviewed studies to inform health and social care for depres...

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Main Authors: Sujit D. Rathod, P. J. Annand, Paniz Hosseini, Andrew Guise, Lucy Platt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2024-05-01
Series:BJPsych Open
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Online Access:https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472424000346/type/journal_article
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author Sujit D. Rathod
P. J. Annand
Paniz Hosseini
Andrew Guise
Lucy Platt
author_facet Sujit D. Rathod
P. J. Annand
Paniz Hosseini
Andrew Guise
Lucy Platt
author_sort Sujit D. Rathod
collection DOAJ
description Background In England in 2021, an estimated 274 000 people were homeless on a given night. It has long been recognised that physical and mental health of people who are homeless is poorer than for people who are housed. There are few peer-reviewed studies to inform health and social care for depression or anxiety among homeless adults in this setting. Aims To measure the symptoms of depression and anxiety among adults who are homeless and who have difficulty accessing healthcare, and to describe distribution of symptoms across sociodemographic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics. Method We completed structured questionnaires with 311 adults who were homeless and who had difficulty accessing healthcare in London, UK, between August and December 2021. We measured anxiety and depression symptoms using the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) score. We compared median PHQ-4 scores across strata of the sociodemographic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics, and tested for associations using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results The median PHQ-4 score was 8 out of 12, and 40.2% had scores suggesting high clinical need. Although PHQ-4 scores were consistently high across a range of socioeconomic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics, they were positively associated with: young age; food insecurity; recent and historic abuse; joint, bone or muscle problems; and frequency of marijuana use. The most common (60%) barrier to accessing healthcare related to transportation. Conclusions Adults who are homeless and have difficulty accessing healthcare have high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. Our findings support consideration of population-level, multisectoral intervention.
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spelling doaj-art-be896522b53e4315aeda2a8b8848401e2025-08-20T02:12:33ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242024-05-011010.1192/bjo.2024.34RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysisSujit D. Rathod0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8783-7724P. J. Annand1Paniz Hosseini2Andrew Guise3Lucy Platt4Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKDepartment of Sociology, University of Surrey, UKDepartment of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UKDepartment of Population Health Sciences, King's College London, UKDepartment of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK Background In England in 2021, an estimated 274 000 people were homeless on a given night. It has long been recognised that physical and mental health of people who are homeless is poorer than for people who are housed. There are few peer-reviewed studies to inform health and social care for depression or anxiety among homeless adults in this setting. Aims To measure the symptoms of depression and anxiety among adults who are homeless and who have difficulty accessing healthcare, and to describe distribution of symptoms across sociodemographic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics. Method We completed structured questionnaires with 311 adults who were homeless and who had difficulty accessing healthcare in London, UK, between August and December 2021. We measured anxiety and depression symptoms using the 4-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-4) score. We compared median PHQ-4 scores across strata of the sociodemographic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics, and tested for associations using the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results The median PHQ-4 score was 8 out of 12, and 40.2% had scores suggesting high clinical need. Although PHQ-4 scores were consistently high across a range of socioeconomic, social vulnerability and health-related characteristics, they were positively associated with: young age; food insecurity; recent and historic abuse; joint, bone or muscle problems; and frequency of marijuana use. The most common (60%) barrier to accessing healthcare related to transportation. Conclusions Adults who are homeless and have difficulty accessing healthcare have high levels of depression and anxiety symptoms. Our findings support consideration of population-level, multisectoral intervention. https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472424000346/type/journal_articleDepressive disordersanxiety or fear-related disordersepidemiologysocial deprivationpolypharmacy
spellingShingle Sujit D. Rathod
P. J. Annand
Paniz Hosseini
Andrew Guise
Lucy Platt
RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
BJPsych Open
Depressive disorders
anxiety or fear-related disorders
epidemiology
social deprivation
polypharmacy
title RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
title_full RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
title_fullStr RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
title_full_unstemmed RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
title_short RETRACTED - Epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in London, UK: descriptive cross-sectional analysis
title_sort retracted epidemiological features of depression and anxiety among homeless adults with healthcare access problems in london uk descriptive cross sectional analysis
topic Depressive disorders
anxiety or fear-related disorders
epidemiology
social deprivation
polypharmacy
url https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472424000346/type/journal_article
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