Health Serv Res. 2021 Oct 4. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13886. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To develop a screening tool to identify emergency department (ED) patients at risk of entering a homeless shelter, which could inform targeting of interventions to prevent future homelessness episodes.
DATA SOURCES: Linked data from: 1) ED patient baseline questionnaires; and, 2) citywide administrative homeless shelter database.
STUDY DESIGN: Stakeholder-informed predictive modeling utilizing ED patient questionnaires linked with prospective shelter administrative data. The outcome was shelter entry documented in administrative data within 6 months following the baseline ED visit. Exposures were responses to questions on homelessness risk factors from baseline questionnaires.
DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: Research assistants completed questionnaires with randomly sampled ED patients who were medically stable, not in police/prison custody, and spoke English or Spanish. Questionnaires were linked to administrative data using deterministic and probabilistic matching.
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Of 1,993 ED patients who were not homeless at baseline, 5.6% entered a shelter in the next 6 months. A screening tool consisting of two measures of past shelter use and one of past criminal justice involvement had 83.0% sensitivity and 20.4% positive predictive value for future shelter entry.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates the potential of using cross-sector data to improve hospital initiatives to address patients’ social needs.
PMID:34608999 | DOI:10.1111/1475-6773.13886
