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Homelessness is associated with excess risk for early death. To examine factors associated with death in older homeless people, researchers conducted this prospective cohort study in California; participants were 450 older homeless people (baseline median age, 58; women, 24%; Black, 80%) who were interviewed every 6 months.
After a median follow-up of 55 months, 26% of participants had died. In multivariate analyses, excess risk for death was associated with first episode of homelessness at age ≥50, poor or fair self-rated health, diabetes, and ongoing homelessness (adjusted hazard ratios were all ≈1.6) and institutionalization in jail/prison or nursing home longer than 3 months (aHR, 6.4). The most common causes of death were heart disease,…