TABLE 2—

Clinical Characteristics of Sample Using Either a Primary Care Provider or the Emergency Department as a Usual Source of Health Care at Baseline: Collaborative Initiative to Help End Chronic Homelessness, United States, February 2004–April 2006.

Characteristic	Usual PCP (n = 544), Mean or %	No Usual PCP—Use ED (n = 206), Mean or %	Pa
Medical
Any medical problem,	71.1	50.2	.001
No. of medical problems	4.5	3.6	.001
Diabetes	10.1	7.3	.24
HIV	5.9	1.0	.004
Asthma or COPD	20.9	21.7	.82
SF–12, PCS	43.80	47.31	.001
Psychiatric
Alcohol abuse	52.9	54.4	.73
Drug abuse	52.0	60.7	.03
Schizophrenia	17.8	18.0	.97
Posttraumatic stress disorder	6.8	3.9	.13
Depression	28.9	24.8	.26
Brief Symptom Inventory, 0–4	1.51	1.45	.39
SF–2, MCS	39.29	38.98	.66
Observed psychosis scale, 0–3	0.22	0.23	.32
Addiction Severity Index
Alcohol	0.12	0.14	.32
Drug	0.05	0.06	.11
Health insurance all 12 mo of previous y	65.5	31.9	.001
Past 3 mo, covered by
Medicaid	27.0	24.1	.43
Medicare	7.7	7.9	.95
Department of Veterans Affairs	16.0	11.8	.15
State assistance	41.1	18.3	.001
Private	1.8	0.5	.17
Other	3.1	0	.01
None	18.8	43.9	.001
Trouble paying for health care in the past 3 mo	26.3	47.5	.001

Note. COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; ED = emergency department; PCS = mental health composite subscale; PCP = primary care provider; PCS = physical composite subscale; SF–12 = Medical Outcomes Study Short Form. The 11 communities funded through the collaborative were Chattanooga, TN; Chicago, IL; Columbus, OH; Denver, CO; Fort Lauderdale, FL; Los Angeles, CA; Martinez, CA; New York City, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; and San Francisco, CA.

^aP values were determined using the χ² or t test.