Department of Social Medicine, Population, and Public Health, University of California, Riverside School of Medicine, 900 University Ave, 92521, Riverside, CA, USA.
Operation Sammy Muscular Dystrophy Hawai'i, Hilo, HI, USA.
Community Ment Health J. 2023 Jul;59(5):1021-1026. doi: 10.1007/s10597-022-01076-9. Epub 2023 Mar 9.
Limited research has examined the mental health of individuals experiencing homelessness in Hawai'i, which bears the nation's second highest homelessness rate. Mental health, substance use, treatment need, and health data were collected from 162 unhoused individuals in Hawai'i County by visiting community locations where they congregate (e.g., beaches, vacant buildings). 77% of participants were Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (NH/PI) with participants demonstrating severe rates of mental and substance use disorders including 57% experiencing major depressive disorder (MDD), 56% experiencing generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), and 64%, 74%, and 12% experiencing alcohol, methamphetamine, and opioid use disorders, respectively-heightening overdose risk. Treatment need was high (62%) but health was poor (85% reporting fair/poor health), with MDD and GAD predicting reduced general health (p < 0.05). Study findings indicate Hawai'i unhoused individuals are disproportionately Indigenous NH/PI, enduring striking mental and physical health disparities that may be reduced by increasing access/utilization of community mental health programs/services.
有限的研究调查了夏威夷无家可归者的心理健康状况，夏威夷的无家可归者比例位居全美第二。通过访问他们聚集的社区地点（例如海滩、废弃建筑物），从夏威夷县的 162 名无家可归者那里收集了心理健康、药物使用、治疗需求和健康数据。77%的参与者为夏威夷原住民/太平洋岛民（NH/PI），参与者表现出严重的精神和药物使用障碍，包括 57%的人患有重度抑郁症（MDD），56%的人患有广泛性焦虑症（GAD），分别有 64%、74%和 12%的人患有酒精、冰毒和阿片类药物使用障碍，这增加了药物过量的风险。治疗需求很高（62%），但健康状况很差（85%的人报告健康状况不佳/差），MDD 和 GAD 预测总体健康状况下降（p<0.05）。研究结果表明，夏威夷无家可归者不成比例地属于土著 NH/PI，他们承受着显著的身心健康差距，增加社区心理健康项目/服务的获取和利用可能会减少这些差距。
