Επιδημιολογική μελέτη της ψυχοπαθολογίας σε δείγμα αστέγων στο Δήμο Αθηναίων ; Epidemiological study of psychopathology in a sample of homeless people in muniapality of Athens

Most research on the homeless is coming from the U.S. and has studied the prevalence of mental disorders in this population. The surveys on the homeless in European countries focus on the mental state and community care of homeless people since the 1980's. This phenomenon has developed gradually in these countries, unlike the countries of North America, where the phenomenon is older. This research is an epidemiological study of psychopathology of the homeless population in Athens, it was conducted during the period 2009-2010 and it includes 254 homeless people living in this region. The communication with the participants was conducted in homeless hostels, soup kitchens, day care centers, and the streets where the homeless live in this city. Two questionnaires were completed by the investigator, a questionnaire of psychosocial conditions of the homeless and the structured clinical interview MINI.The statistical processing of data with the SPSS statistical system showed that:The majority of the sample were male (74%) with relatively high average age (51 years), they were homeless for over 25 months (50%), most of them had graduated high school and were mostly unemployed.The vast majority were single, living without their families and had no contact with their relatives.A significant proportion were sleeping on the street (18.5%), but most were found in homeless hostels.The main reason the participants gave for becoming homeless were economic, followed by alcohol abuse problems and / or illegal substances and family reasons.The prevalence of mental disorders was very high in this sample with an overall current prevalence of 56.7%. Mood disorders have a rate of 16.1%, anxiety disorders 11.8%, psychotic disorders 13,0%, abuses / addictions 11,8% and comorbidity 11.8%. The prevalence of mental disorders in the homeless population is much higher than in the general population of Greece and has many similarities with the prevalence of mental disorders of the homeless population in other European countries.The use of ...