UCSD study: More homeless mentally ill than thought

By: North County Times wire services | Tuesday, February 1, 2005 9:45 PM PST ∞

SAN DIEGO - Fifteen percent of the homeless in San Diego County suffer serious mental illness -- a rate higher than anticipated, according to research released Tuesday by UC San Diego's School of Medicine.

"Homelessness is more common in patients with serious mental illness than I would have guessed," said Dr. David Folsom, a study author and co-director of the UCSD Combined Family Medicine-Psychiatry Residency Program.

The study, which collected data from 10,340 San Diegans with serious mental illness who were treated by San Diego County Adult Mental Health Services, was published in this month's issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.

According to researchers, homelessness was most frequently associated with people who were diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, substance abusers and those who had no public-funded health care.

Men also were more likely to be homeless than women, as were African Americans, according to the study.

"Homelessness is an increasingly important public health issue, with seriously mentally ill persons most at risk for homelessness," said Dr. Dilip Jeste, a study author and UCSD professor of psychiatry and neurosciences.

Researchers concluded that homelessness in San Diego might be reduced or prevented with substance abuse treatment and help in obtaining public-funded health benefits like Medicaid or MediCal.

They found that homeless mentally ill people were more than twice as likely to be hospitalized as non-homeless patients.

"In addition to the trauma experienced by these individuals, there is also a cost to society," Jeste said. "Homeless persons have a significantly more frequent use of expensive emergency services and are more likely to spend more time in jail."

The study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

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