TABLE 2—

Access, Use, and Factors Associated With Use of Information Technologies by Homeless Persons

Reference	Sample Size	Respondents and Setting	Methods (Response Rate)a	Prevalence of Technology Ownership and Usage	Factors Associated with Technology Use and Ownership
Eyrich-Garg27,b	100	Unsheltered men and women in Philadelphia, PA	Survey (98%)	44% of the sample had access to a mobile phone. Of these, 80% owned it, 18% borrowed long term, and 2% rented. 100% used the phone for calling, and 61% also used texting.	Possessing a mobile phone was positively associated with having a high school diploma (P = .005) and with fewer total years of lifetime homelessness (P = .002). Texting was positively associated with having experienced more than 1 episode of homelessness (P = .008).
Rice et al.36,c	169	Homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA	Survey (NA)	62% of the sample owned a mobile phone (40% owned a working phone, 15% owned a phone with no minutes, 7% shared a phone with a friend). 62% of the sample reported using a mobile phone at least once a day.	Characteristics associated with mobile phone ownership were older age (P = .02), not sleeping on streets (P = .02), and not being heterosexual (P = .01).
Stennett et al.21	39	Homeless adults (location not reported)	Survey (75%)	54% of the sample owned a mobile phone, and 39% had e-mail accounts that they checked at least once per week.	Not reported
Redpath et al.33	265	Homeless and indigent drug users in Long Beach, CA	Survey (NA)	55% of participants had used a computer in their lifetime; 24% had owned a computer at some point in their lifetime; 19% had accessed the Internet in the past 30 d.	Lifetime use of computer was positively associated with education (having completed high school; P < .001) and with amphetamine use in the past 30 d (P < .01). It was negatively associated with older age (P < .01) and with days of marijuana use (P < .05). Stratified analysis by race found that for Whites, only the education relationship remained significantly associated with lifetime computer use. For Blacks, education, marijuana use, and age relationships remained significant.
Eyrich-Garg28,b	100	Unsheltered men and women in Philadelphia, PA	Survey (98%)	47% of the sample had used a computer in the past 30 d. Among the computer users, median numbers of days of computer use (in the past 30) was 30. Median number of hours of computer use in the past 30 d was 17.7.	Characteristics associated with computer use in the past 30 d were younger age (P = .022); having a high school diploma (P = .005); not having slept exclusively on streets for prior 14 nights (P = .016); not considering oneself homeless (P = .008); having fewer years of lifetime homelessness (P = .038); and having lower Addiction Severity Index composite scores (P = .016)
Rice et al.38,d	201	Homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA	Survey (NA)	84% of the sample reported using the Internet once a week or more.	Not reported
Young and Rice39,d	201	Homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA	Survey (NA)	79% of the sample used online social networks almost every week, particularly MySpace and Facebook.	Not reported
Barman-Adhikari and Rice25,c	169	Homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA	Survey (NA)	54% of the sample were daily Internet users and relied on public Internet access.	Not reported
Rice et al.37	136	Homeless adolescents in Los Angeles, CA	Survey (91%)	Nearly 75% of the sample used social networking technology (i.e., mobile phone, e-mail, texting) to maintain ties with home-based social connections.	Not reported

Note. NA = not available.

^aWe calculated response rates on the basis of information provided in the articles. None provided enough detail to ensure that the rates are comparable or that they meet the standards of the American Association for Public Opinion Research.

^bThese 2 articles reported data from the same participants but are described in separate rows because each emphasizes a different technology.

^cThese 2 articles reported data from the same participants but are described in separate rows because each emphasizes a different technology.

^dThese 2 articles reported data from the same participants but are described in separate rows because each emphasizes a different technology.