Wieczorek Łukasz, Stokwiszewski Jakub, Klingemann Justyna I
Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Department of Study on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Warsaw, Poland.
Nordisk Alkohol Nark. 2019 Dec;36(6):542-555. doi: 10.1177/1455072519860291. Epub 2019 Jul 11.
While homelessness and problem gambling are both recognised as social and public health concerns and the prevalence of addictive disorders among homeless populations tends to be high. These questions have been studied predominantly independently.
The aim of the study was to explore the co-occurrence of the two phenomena among the homeless population using shelters and night shelters in Warsaw, and, more specifically, to provide information about the forms and frequency of gambling in this homeless population.
Homeless persons ( = 690) were interviewed in rehabilitation-shelters ( = 17) and night-shelters ( = 2) in Warsaw from November 2015 until January 2016. The core component of the questionnaire was a screening test (Problem Gambling Severity Index). In addition, data regarding the intensity of gambling and various types of games or settings were collected.
The prevalence of problem gambling in this population of homeless people was 11.3%, whereas the prevalence of problem gambling in the general population in Poland is much lower (0.7%). Similarly to the general population, the most prevalent gambling games in the homeless population were lotteries; however, homeless people gambled in lotteries almost three times more often compared to the general population.
This is the first study examining the prevalence of problem gambling in the homeless population in Poland. The findings of the study suggest that problem gambling among the homeless is a significant social and public health concern. High rates of problem gambling in the homeless population show the need to identify and monitor this problem in shelters and consequently to provide easier access to gambling treatment or prevention programmes.
无家可归和问题赌博均被视为社会和公共卫生问题，且无家可归人群中成瘾性障碍的患病率往往较高。这些问题大多是独立研究的。
本研究旨在利用华沙的收容所和夜间收容所，探讨无家可归人群中这两种现象的共现情况，更具体地说，是提供有关该无家可归人群赌博形式和频率的信息。
2015年11月至2016年1月期间，在华沙的康复收容所（17个）和夜间收容所（2个）对690名无家可归者进行了访谈。问卷的核心部分是一项筛查测试（问题赌博严重程度指数）。此外，还收集了有关赌博强度以及各类游戏或场所的数据。
该无家可归人群中问题赌博的患病率为11.3%，而波兰普通人群中问题赌博的患病率要低得多（0.7%）。与普通人群类似，无家可归人群中最普遍的赌博游戏是彩票；然而，无家可归者购买彩票的频率几乎是普通人群的三倍。
这是第一项研究波兰无家可归人群中问题赌博患病率的研究。该研究结果表明，无家可归者中的问题赌博是一个重大的社会和公共卫生问题。无家可归人群中高比例的问题赌博表明，有必要在收容所识别和监测这一问题，从而更方便地提供赌博治疗或预防项目。
