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Table 1 Socio-demographic, mental disorder, and substance use-related characteristics for Vancouver At Home study participants (n = 497)

From: Setting the stage for chronic health problems: cumulative childhood adversity among homeless adults with mental illness in Vancouver, British Columbia

Variable

Total sample (n = 497)

Participants with valid ACE total score (n = 364)

Participants with missing or declined responses (n = 133)

P value

N (%)

N (%)

N (%)

Need level (High)

297 (60)

208 (57)

89 (67)

0.049*

Gender (Male)

359 (73)

255 (71)

104 (78)

0.103

Age at enrolment visit

    

Youth

36 (7)

24 (7)

12 (9)

0.344

25-44 years

281 (57)

202 (56)

76 (59)

 

> 44 years

180 (36)

138 (38)

42 (32)

 

Ethnicity

    

Aboriginal

77 (15)

62 (14)

15 (11)

0.251

White

280 (56)

199 (55)

81 (61)

 

Other

140 (28)

103 (28)

37 (28)

 

Incomplete high school

280 (57)

210 (58)

70 (53)

0.270

Marital status (Single)

343 (70)

250 (69)

93 (72)

0.570

Precariously housed

109 (22)

76 (21)

33 (25)

0.544

Duration of homelessness

    

Lifetime (>36 months)1

234 (48)

173 (48)

61 (46)

0.697

Longest single period (>1 yr)2

245 (50)

184 (51)

61 (47)

0.373

First homeless prior to age 25 yrs

214 (44)

152 (42)

62 (47)

0.313

Overall health (Poor)

67 (13)

53 (14)

14 (10)

0.240

Type of mental disorder

    

Less severe

264 (53)

202 (56)

62 (47)

0.079+

Severe

363 (73)

258 (71)

105 (79)

0.073+

Multiple (≥2) mental disorders

240 (48)

180 (49)

60 (45)

0.392

Alcohol dependence

121 (24)

91 (25)

30 (23)

0.574

Substance dependence

288 (58)

218 (60)

70 (53)

0.126

High suicidality

87 (17)

69 (19)

18 (13)

0.159

Blood-borne infectious disease

157 (32)

118 (33)

39 (30)

0.540

Multiple (≥3) physical illness

344 (69)

253 (70)

91 (68)

0.817

Age first drunk (≤13 yrs)

164 (47)

51 (40)

215 (46)

0.153

Age of first drug use (≤13 yrs)

140 (42)

43 (35)

183 (40)

0.178

Daily substance use

143 (29)

105 (29)

38 (29)

0.952

Daily drug use

93 (25)

33 (25)

126 (25)

0.867

Injection drug use

88 (18)

64 (18)

24 (19)

0.834

Poly-substance use

    

Two or more

257 (52)

193 (53)

64 (49)

0.397

Three or more

148 (30)

113 (31)

35 (27)

0.345

Poly-drug use

    

Two or more

188 (38)

145 (40)

43 (33)

0.150

Three or more

108 (22)

84 (23)

24 (18)

0.253

Weekly alcohol use

111 (22)

85 (23)

26 (20)

0.394

Daily alcohol use

26 (5)

20 (5)

6 (5)

0.678

Daily marijuana use

70 (14)

49 (13)

21 (16)

0.509

  1. 1Dichotomized based on median score (3 years).
  2. 2Dichotomized based on median score (1 year).
  3. *p ≤ 0.05.
  4. +p ≤ 0.10.