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Table 1 Characteristics of participants with and without self-reported unmet needs for care in Vancouver, Toronto, and Ottawa, Canada, 2009

From: A cross-sectional observational study of unmet health needs among homeless and vulnerably housed adults in three Canadian cities

 

All participants (n = 1181)

Participants with unmet needs (n = 445)

Participants without unmet needs (n = 736)

p

Demographics, n (%)

   

0.71

 Homeless

592 (50.1)

220 (49.4)

372 (50.5)

 

 Vulnerably housed

589 (49.9)

225 (50.6)

364 (49.5)

 

Age group, n (%)

   

0.52

 <30 years

159 (13.5)

62 (14.0)

97 (13.2)

 

 30–39 years

291 (24.7)

116 (26.2)

175 (23.8)

 

 40–49 years

439 (37.2)

166 (37.5)

273 (37.1)

 

 ≥50 years

290 (24.6)

99 (22.3)

191 (26.0)

 

Gender, n (%)

   

0.25

 Male

773 (65.7)

286 (64.4)

487 (66.4)

 

 Female

386 (32.8)

154 (34.7)

232 (31.7)

 

 Transgender

18 (1.5)

4 (0.9)

14 (1.9)

 

City, n (%)

   

0.16

 Vancouver

391 (33.1)

160 (36.0)

231 (31.4)

 

 Toronto

396 (33.5)

136 (30.6)

260 (35.3)

 

 Ottawa

394 (33.4)

149 (33.5)

245 (33.3)

 

Born in Canada, n (%)

992 (84.5)

386 (87.1)

606 (82.9)

0.05

Racial/cultural group, n (%)

   

<0.01

 White

712 (62.2)

282 (65.0)

430 (60.5)

 

 Black/African-Canadian

106 (9.3)

33 (7.6)

73 (10.3)

 

 First Nations/Aboriginal

204 (17.8)

79 (18.2)

125 (17.6)

 

 Mixed ethnicity

64 (5.6)

30 (6.9)

34 (4.8)

 

 Other

59 (5.2)

10 (2.3)

49 (6.9)

 

Highest level of education, n (%)

   

0.38

 Some post-secondary education or more

375 (32.0)

148 (33.4)

227 (31.1)

 

 Completed high school or equivalent

274 (23.4)

94 (21.2)

180 (24.7)

 

 Some high school

523 (44.6)

201 (45.4)

322 (44.2)

 

Employed past 12 months, n (%)

468 (39.7)

186 (41.9)

282 (38.4)

0.23

Lifetime duration of homelessness (yrs), mean (SD)

5.1 (6.0)

5.5 (6.3)

4.9 (5.8)

0.07

EQ-VAS score (perceived state of health), mean (SD)

61.5 (21.8)

55.5 (22.2)

65.0 (20.8)

<0.01

EQ-5D index score, mean (SD)

0.7 (0.2)

0.7 (0.2)

0.8 (0.2)

<0.01

Been victim of sexual assault over past 12 months, n (%)

104 (8.9)

55 (12.4)

49 (6.7)

<0.01

Has a provincial health card number, n (%)

991 (86.9)

365 (85.5)

626 (87.7)

0.29

Has unmet needs for mental care, n (%)

275 (23.4)

183 (41.4)

92 (12.6)

<0.01

Has primary care provider, n (%)

713 (60.5)

252 (56.8)

461 (62.7)

0.04

SF-12 PCS, 1 mean (SD)

44.5 (11.3)

41.4 (10.9)

46.4 (11.1)

<0.01

SF-12 MCS, mean (SD)

39.1 (13.1)

34.9 (12.2)

41.6 (12.9)

<0.01

Number of chronic health conditions, 2 n (%)

   

<0.01

 0

150 (12.7)

30 (6.7)

120 (16.3)

 

 1

248 (21.0)

69 (15.5)

179 (24.3)

 

 2

195 (16.5)

65 (14.6)

130 (17.7)

 

 ≥ 3

588 (49.8)

281 (63.1)

307 (41.7)

 

Diagnosed with a mental health disorder, n (%)

600 (51.5)

260 (59.2)

340 (46.9)

<0.01

  1. 1On a scale where 50 is the mean and 10 is the standard deviation in the US general population.
  2. 2Chronic health conditions include: high blood pressure; heart disease; asthma; COPD (includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis); cirrhosis; Hepatitis B or C; intestinal or stomach ulcers; urinary incontinence; bowel disorders; arthritis; problems walking, lost limb, or other physical handicap; HIV/AIDS; epilepsy; fetal alcohol syndrome or fetal alcohol spectrum disorder; head injury; glaucoma; cataracts; cancer, diabetes; or anemia.