USE OF MEDICAL-SERVICES AND MORBIDITY IN THE HOMELESS

Inequalities in health care access and morbidity across socioeconomic categories have been emphasized over the last 30 years, raising concer n about the homeless, who are at the very bottom of the socioeconomic spectrum. Data on hospital admissions, office visits, and morbidity re ported by homeless individuals were collected during a survey conducte d in February and March 1995 in the Paris area by the National Institu te for Demographic Studies (INED). A number of sources of statistical data were used to compare hospital admissions and private practitioner care in homeless individuals and in the general population living in the same area. The homeless had a considerably larger number of hospit al admissions, suggesting greater susceptibilty to disease and injury. Outpatient care by private practitioners was apparently similar in th e two groups. Further work is needed to compare use of laboratory test s and imaging studies in these two populations.