Substance use by homeless clinic attenders in Sydney

Kirra Solterbeck, Lauren Staples, Logan Woodman, Nicholas Burns, Rebecca Mitchell, Olav Nielssen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objective: Describe patterns of substance use and comorbid conditions among clinic attenders in homeless shelters in Sydney.
Method: Retrospective cohort study of 2498 people who attended a psychiatric clinic at one of three homeless hostels between February 2008 and May 2020. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with self-reported substance use, psychiatric diagnosis and measures of social function.
Results: A total of 2041 of the 2498 (81.7%) reported the harmful use of at least one substance, with alcohol (61.8%), cannabis (50.9%) and stimulant drugs (34.9%) the three most common. Those reporting the regular use of two or more substances (1466, 58.7%) were more likely to have a history of early life and adult trauma, a diagnosis of personality disorder, a criminal conviction, receive the Disability Support Pension, be chronically homeless and sleep in the open.
Conclusions: The study found a high rate of polysubstance use among homeless clinic attenders in Sydney, and an increase in the prevalence of substance use compared to previous studies. Substance use is both a cause and a consequence of homelessness, and services to address substance use have to be part of any program to reduce homelessness and sleeping in the open.
Original languageEnglish
JournalAustralasian Psychiatry
Early online date19 Jul 2024
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 19 Jul 2024

Keywords

  • homelessness
  • substance use
  • mental health
  • prevalence
  • trauma

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