TABLE 2—
Characteristics of Participants by Site in a Comparison of Homeless Persons’ Care in Tailored vs Nontailored Care Programs: 5 Study Sites, January 2011–March 2012
| Characteristics | Tailored Non-VA (Massachusetts, n = 195), No. (%) or Mean ±SD | Tailored VA (California, n= 94), No. (%) or Mean ±SD | Mainstream VA A (Pennsylvania, n = 124), No. (%) or Mean ±SD | Mainstream VA B (Alabama, n = 150), No. (%) or Mean ±SD | Mainstream VA C (Alabama, n = 38), No. (%) or Mean ±SD | Pa | |
| Demographics | |||||||
| Age, y | 51.1 ±10.5 | 55.9 ±6.8 | 53.6 ±6.9 | 53.7 ±7.1 | 50.9 ±9.6 | < .001 | |
| Gender | |||||||
| Male | 133 (68.2) | 94 (100) | 112 (90.3) | 139 (92.7) | 34 (89.5) | < .001 | |
| Female | 59 (30.3) | 0 | 11 (8.9) | 11 (7.3) | 4 (10.5) | ||
| Other/transgender | 3 (1.5) | 0 | 1 (0.8) | 0 | 0 | ||
| Race | |||||||
| Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin | 20 (10.5) | 6 (06.5) | 2 (1.6) | 1 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | < .001 | |
| White | 77 (39.5) | 13 (13.8) | 49 (39.5) | 33 (22.0) | 12 (31.6) | < .001 | |
| Black, African American | 75 (38.5) | 73 (77.7) | 66 (53.2) | 111 (74.0) | 21 (55.3) | ||
| American Indian/Alaska Native | 2 (01.0) | 1 (01.1) | 5 (4.0) | 1 (0.7) | 2 (5.3) | ||
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 2 (01.0) | 1 (01.1) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | ||
| Other | 39 (20.0) | 5 (06.4) | 4 (3.2) | 5 (3.3) | 3 (7.9) | ||
| Race non-White | 119 (61.0) | 81 (86.2) | 75 (60.5) | 117 (78.0) | 26 (68.4) | < .001 | |
| Ever served in military | 27 (14.4) | 94 (100) | 124 (100) | 150 (100) | 38 (100) | < .001 | |
| Difficulty paying for basic necessities | 63 (67.7) | 123 (67.7) | 84 (68.9) | 97 (66.9) | 27 (77.1) | .823 | |
| Residential history | |||||||
| Chronically homeless in past 3 y | 164 (84.1) | 68 (72.3) | 67 (54.0) | 85 (56.7) | 21 (55.3) | < .001 | |
| Spent ≥ 1 nights in street, in car or abandoned building or in emergency shelters, last 2 wk | 37 (18.7) | 7 (7.5) | 10 (8.1) | 14 (9.3) | 1 (2.6) | .002 | |
| Self-designates as currently homeless | 61 (31.3) | 27 (29.0) | 33 (26.6) | 50 (33.3) | 14 (36.8) | .685 | |
| Currently domiciled, last 2 wkb | 117 (60.0) | 57 (60.6) | 92 (74.2) | 88 (58.7) | 23 (60.5) | .064 | |
| Health services | |||||||
| Health insurancec | 181 (92.8) | 83 (88.3) | 106 (85.5) | 141 (94.0) | 33 (86.8) | .078 | |
| “How many times have you seen this provider in last 6 months?” | 4.7 ±5.1 | 2.3 ±1.8 | 1.6 ±1.2 | 3.3 ±6.8 | 2.2 ±2.3 | < .001 | |
| Health status | |||||||
| General health status fair or poor | 89 (46.6) | 35 (38.0) | 48 (39.0) | 66 (44.3) | 18 (47.4) | .539 | |
| Psychiatric symptom intensity in last 6 mo, Colorado (range = 0–56)d | 16.6 ±11.1 | 15.8 ±10.6 | 15.2 ±10.6 | 17.6 ±12.4 | 25.3 ±11.6 | < .001 | |
| Severe psychiatric symptoms several times per wkd | 40 (20.9) | 21 (22.3) | 18 (14.6) | 50 (34.0) | 16 (42.1) | < .001 | |
| Drug Global Continuum Score (ASSIST)e | 27.6 ±27.2 | 23.8 ±18.8 | 25.0 ±23.9 | 18.6 ±15.4 | 19.8 ±18.2 | .005 | |
| Alcohol Specific Substance Involvement Score (ASSIST),e | 9.8 ±9.9 | 5.8 ±6.5 | 7.5 ±8.3 | 18.6 ±15.4 | 8.5 ±8.3 | < .004 | |
Note. VA = Veterans Affairs. Tailored non-VA refers to a 26-year old Health Care for the Homeless Program. Mainstream VA sites are non-tailored primary care sites in Pennsylvania (A), and Alabama (B and C). Tailored VA is a VA homeless-tailored primary care program (California).
P values are based on comparison among the 5 sites using the χ2 test (categorical) or analysis of variance (continuous).
“Currently domiciled” was designated for persons reporting at least 1 night during the past 2 weeks in their “own apartment/house” or in “permanent supportive housing provided by an organization or the government.”
Insured status included affirmation of having “a source of insurance that can pay for your medical expenses,” including private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid, or VA benefits.
Psychiatric symptoms probed using previously validated Colorado Symptom Index.48 “Severe” symptoms were being told one acted suspicious or paranoid, hearing voices others could not hear, feeling suspicious or paranoid, feeling like hurting or killing oneself or another person.
Scores related to drug and alcohol use were devised from the World Health Organization Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST).49