Homeless and runaway youths' access to health care

Purpose: To describe use of health services and self-reported access to reg ular and emergency care by homeless adolescents and street youth. Methods: Interviewer-administered surveys addressed use of health services, availability of sources of care for emergencies, and types of care sources used. An abbreviated version of the questionnaire used for youth in shelte rs was used for street youth. A nationally representative sample of 640 she ltered youth and a purposive sample of 600 street youth aged 12-21 years we re interviewed. All data were collected in 1992. Results: Half of street youth and 36% of sheltered youth did not have a reg ular source of health care (p less than or equal to .05). One-fourth of str eet youth and 18% of sheltered youth also reported serious health problems within the past year (p less than or equal to .05). Street youth were more likely than sheltered youth to have used emergency treatment (36% vs. 29%; p less than or equal to .05) and alcohol- or drug-related emergency treatme nt (25% vs. 13%; p less than or equal to .05). Sheltered youth with a regul ar source of care were more likely to use nonemergency sites than those wit hout a source of primary care (46% vs. 20%; p less than or equal to .001). Few sheltered or street youth perceived shelter clinics, clinics for runawa y youth, or free youth clinics to be available to meet their emergency care needs. Conclusions: Significant numbers of homeless youth did not have a regular s ource of health care. Those who had a regular source of care were more like ly to have continuity between routine and emergency care. Integration of he alth services with other agencies serving youth in shelters or on the stree t may improve access to care for those without a routine source of care and provide better continuity for these high-risk youth. (C) Society for Adole scent Medicine, 2000.