Abstract Body

Background and purpose

Homelessness is a situation of severe social exclusion that affects all areas of individuals experiencing it.

Methods

A transversal, observational and analytic study was conducted. During 2016 and 2020 the research team formed by different public health and public services recruited the information of the participants. The services were: a primary health center, a drug addiction public center and a public shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness (IEH). Data collected included: dead/alive status, age of death and differences between death ages in relation to some sociodemographic characteristics. The ethics committee CEI-Girona previously approved in 2016 the research protocol the study followed.

Results

3854 IEH were included in the study. The 85.4% were men (n = 3292) and the 60.4% of the sample were foreign born IEH (n = 2328). 391 IEH died during the study (13.2%). The average age of death was 52.4 years old (ED = 13.2). Causes of death included: suicide (n = 92, 24.1%), hepatic cirrhosis (n = 10, 18.3%), overdose (n = 58, 15.2%), heart disease/attack (n = 42, 11.0%), AIDS (n = 36, 9.4%), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacerbation (n = 36, 9.4%), cancer (n = 31, 7.9%) and meningitis (n = 18, 4.7%).

Conclusion

IEH have a lower life expectancy than general population. It is important to design specific programs to detect and treat social exclusion parameters related to health, social exclusion and mortality of IEH.