SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – A recent UCSF study has revealed the devastating effects of homelessness later in life.
For more, stream KCBS Radio now.
From June 2013 to December 2021, 450 homeless adults 50 years and older participated in a study, funded by the National Institute on Aging, to discover how homelessness affects life expectancy.
By interviewing the subjects every six months, researchers learned vital information about their health, housing status, possible drug use and the impact of pre-existing conditions, among other factors.
Following almost a decade of research, UCSF released the shocking findings on Monday. Of the 450 participants, 26% died within four and a half years into the study at the median age of 64.6 years old.
Researchers also found that people who first became homeless at 50 or later were 60% more likely to die than those who became homeless earlier in life, and those who were unable to be rehoused had an 80% higher chance of dying than those who returned to housing.
The most common causes of death were heart disease at 14.5%, cancer also at 14.5% and drug overdose at 12%.
"Becoming homeless late in life is a major shock to the system," Margot Kushel, MD, a senior author of the study, said in a UCSF news brief. "These untimely deaths highlight the critical need to prevent older adults from becoming homeless – and of intervening and rehousing those that do, quickly."
Of the majority who died from heart disease or cancer, researchers found a common theme; the conditions were rarely reported at the six-month check-ins.
"We think this represents a lack of access to care and delayed diagnosis," explained Rebecca Brown, MD, affiliated assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Geriatrics at UCSF. "Often, we didn't even know people were ill because they didn't report it in their six-month interviews. But we found it on their death certificates."
Following the study, UCSF researchers are calling attention to the urgent need for policy approaches in the United States to prevent and end homelessness among older adults.
DOWNLOAD the Audacy App
SIGN UP and follow KCBS Radio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Related
