Prevalence of cognitive impairment among homeless people in inner Sydney

The prevalence of cognitive impairment was assessed among a cohort of homel ess men and women selected randomly from the dining rooms of the seven larg est hostels offering emergency shelter in inner Sydney. They were interview ed using sections of the Composite International Diagnostic interview 2.0. A total of 204 subjects (155 men and 49 women) were interviewed, of whom 20 (10 percent) showed evidence of cognitive impairment as assessed by the Mi ni Mental State Examination, Subjects with cognitive impairment were signif icantly older than those without impairment (mean ages of 57 and 41, respec tively). Reasons for cognitive impairment among homeless individuals are co mplex and remain to be elucidated.