Table 1.
Characteristics of the included SRs or MAs of observational and interventional studies
| Author, year (type of study) | Type of studies included | Health outcome examined | Exposures/active treatment | Control group | No. of studies included in the MA or SR (No. of studies included in the present UR) | Population | Homelessness adopted definition | AMSTAR-2 or AMSTAR-plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tweed et al., 2021 (MA) [215] | Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies, and baseline data from interventional studies | Mortality, morbidity, health-related quality of life, self-rated health | Homelessness, imprisonment, substance use (other than alcohol, cannabis, or performance-enhancing drugs), sex working, SMI | Absence of homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, sex working, or SMI | 237 (5) | People experiencing homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, sex working, or SMI | People who are rough sleeping or unstably/marginally housed | Critically low |
| Arum et al., 2021 (MA) [216] | Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies | HIV and HCV diagnosis | Homelessness, unstable housing | Absence of homelessness or unstable housing | 37 (24) | People who use injective drugs | Lacking access to adequate housing, according to the Institute of Global Homelessness | Critically low |
| Suh et al., 2020 (MA) [217] | Cross-sectional, cohort studies | Geriatric syndrome outcomes | Homelessness | Absence of homelessness | 5 (4) | People experiencing homelessness | People lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence, including those utilizing temporary shelters, being homeless, living in an abandoned building or vehicle, or any other unstable or nonpermanent situation, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services | Critically low |
| Al-Shakarchi et al., 2020 (MA) [218] | Case-control, cohort studies | Cardiovascular disease | Homelessness | Absence of homelessness | 17 (9) | People experiencing homelessness | Not provided | Critically low |
| van Draanen et al., 2020 (SR) [219] | Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies | Opioid-related fatal and non-fatal overdose | Any measure of socioeconomic marginalization | Different levels of socio-economic marginalization | 37 (4) | People who use opioids in North America, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand | Not provided | Critically low |
| Lin et al., 2019 (MA) [220] | Cross-sectional, cohort studies | Antiretroviral therapy adherence | Homelessness, sex working, or drug use | Absence of homelessness, sex working, or drug use | 29 (4) | People with HIV infection | Not provided | Critically low |
| Aldridge et al., 2017 (MA) | SRs, MAs, cross-sectional, cohort studies | Mortality, morbidity | Homelessness, imprisonment, sex working, substance use disorder | Absence of homelessness, imprisonment, sex working, or substance use disorder | 337 (3) | People experiencing homelessness, imprisonment, substance use, or sex working | Not provided | Critically low |
| Bassuk et al., 2015 (MA) [222] | Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies | Mental health disorders, behavioral disorders | Homelessness | Absence of homelessness | 7 (7) | Children/adolescents experiencing homelessness aged less than 18 years, enrolled in the United States and accompanied by a parent | The literal definition of homelessness includes emergency shelter, transitional housing, residing in places not meant for human habitation, fleeing domestic violence, or not having an identified residence | Critically low |
| Aidala et al. 2016 (SR) [223] | Cross-sectional, case-control, cohort studies, RCT | HIV health care access and utilization, adherence to antiretroviral treatments, HIV clinical health outcomes, other health outcomes, emergency department, and inpatient use, HIV risk behaviors | Homelessness, unstable housing | Absence of homelessness or unstable housing | 152 (19) | People with HIV infection who live in high-income countries | Not provided | Critically low |
| Hyun et al., 2020 (MA) [224] | RCT, cluster RCT | Depression, anxiety, mental health status, PTSD symptoms, psychological distress, self-efficacy, quality of life | Psychosocial interventions | Control condition | 11 (6) | People experiencing homelessness | Living situation of rooflessness without a shelter of any kind and houselessness with a temporary institution or shelter to sleep, according to the European typology on homelessness and housing exclusion | 10 |
MA meta-analysis, PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder, RCT randomized controlled trial, SMI severe mental illness, SR systematic review, UR umbrella review