Comparative 4-year risk and type of hospital admission among homeless and housed emergency department attendees: longitudinal study of hospital records in England 2013-2018.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: People experiencing homelessness are frequent users of secondary care. Currently, there is no study of potentially preventable admissions for homeless patients in England. We aim to estimate the number of potentially preventable hospital admissions for homeless patients and compare to housed patients with similar characteristics. DESIGN: Retrospective matched cohort study. SETTING: Hospitals in England. PARTICIPANTS: 16 161 homeless patients and 74 780 housed patients aged 16-75 years who attended an emergency department (ED) in England in 2013/2014, matched on the basis of age, sex, ED attended and primary diagnosis. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Annual counts of admis..