The health of individuals experiencing homelessness: a 15-year retrospective cohort study

People experiencing homelessness (IEHs) and housing exclusion have more chronic diagnoses and lower life expectancy than the general population. There are no studies of large samples of IEHs in Spain, especially studies that analyze health records and diagnoses. The objective of this study was to analyze the health of IEHs in Spain. We conducted an observational retrospective cohort study of the health of 3,854 IEHs, according to age and gender, using diagnoses registered in the health service, over the 15 years between 2006 and 2020. The results obtained indicated that 40% of the IEHs studied suffered from a physical disorder. Between 4.1% and 13.2% had some type of infection, and between 4.0% and 13.8% a chronic pathology. Of the total population, 13.2% died during the period of analysis. The main causes of death were suicide, cirrhosis of the liver, overdose, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease flare-up, cardiopathy, AIDS, cancer, and meningitis. Older people had more health problems. Women were in poorer health and had a higher mortality rate than men. These results, the first ones from a large sample of IEHs in Spain, highlight health problems of IEHs, especially women.