Homeless people suffer geriatric conditions decades early, UCSF study shows

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-02/uoc--hps022316.php

Public Release: 26-Feb-2016
Homeless people suffer geriatric conditions decades early, UCSF study shows
University of California - San Francisco

Homeless people in their fifties have more geriatric conditions than those living in homes who are decades older, according to researchers at UC San Francisco who are following 350 people who are homeless and aged 50 and over, in Oakland.

Although the people in the study had a median age of just 58, they had more trouble bathing, dressing and eating than 80 year olds who had housing. They had a harder time using transportation, taking their medications, managing money, applying for benefits, arranging a job interview and finding a lawyer. They had higher rates of cognitive and visual impairment and urinary incontinence. And they were more likely to fall and to be depressed.

"Usually, we think of geriatric conditions as affecting much older adults in their 70's, 80's and 90's," said Rebecca Brown, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics and first author of the paper. "We found these conditions were very common in homeless adults with an average age of just 58. We studied a very vulnerable population. Our systems need to be responsive to the challenges that these older adults have."

About 40 percent of homeless adults reported difficulty with one or more activities of daily living, while a third reported having fallen in the past six months. About a quarter had cognitive impairment, 45 percent had vision impairment and 48 percent had urinary incontinence.

Researchers said their findings, published Feb. 26, 2016 in The Gerontologist, point to the need to develop new ways of helping homeless people, who are increasingly older. Half of single homeless adults are now 50 or older, compared to 11 percent in 1990.

•••••