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Prevalence in homeless populations

What is prevalence of schizophrenia in homeless populations?

Prevalence measures the proportion of individuals who have a disorder at a particular point in time (point prevalence) or during a specified period (annual prevalence, lifetime prevalence) and this may vary across regions. It is distinct from incidence, which refers to how many new cases there are per population in a specified time period. Lifetime prevalence is the number of individuals in a population that at some point in their life have experienced schizophrenia compared to the total number of individuals.

What is the evidence for the prevalence of schizophrenia in homeless populations?

Moderate quality evidence suggests the overall prevalence rate of any psychotic disorder in homeless people is around 21%. Moderate to high quality evidence suggests the prevalence of schizophrenia spectrum disorders is around 12.4% in homeless populations in high-income countries. The prevalence rate of schizophrenia is higher in developing countries (22%).

Moderate quality evidence shows rates of schizophrenia in homeless populations varied across US cities, with rates higher in Los Angeles than in New York, which had higher rates than Philadelphia. Rates were generally higher in younger than older age-groups, higher in chronically homeless people, and higher in women than in men.

April 2022

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Last updated at: 3:34 pm, 5th April 2022
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Tags:  Homeless people

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