Retention in Primary Care Among Unstably Housed Residents of a Low-income, Inner-city Neighborhood with a High Prevalence of Substance Use and Related Disorders

Overview

Journal Int J Equity Health

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialties Health Services
Public Health

Date 2024 Nov 28

PMID 39609880

Authors

M Gumprich

W Zhang

J Li

K Salters

R Barrios

P Sereda

C Stanley

R Joe

D Hall

V Lima

G Sincraian

A Marante Changir

R Parry

C Fulton

T Wesseling

J Montaner

S Parashar

David M Moore

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Introduction: Access to and engagement with primary healthcare can be difficult for marginalized low-income populations residing in inner cities in high-income countries. We designed a study to examine retention in primary care among clients of a novel interdisciplinary primary care clinic in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada who did not previously have access to care.

Methods: Beginning in June 2021, clients of the Hope to Health clinic were offered enrolment in a cohort study which involved a baseline and follow-up surveys every six months, and linking their data to information from the clinic's electronic medical records. We used Chi-square or Fisher's Exact test and Wilcoxon rank sum test to compare clients who were lost to follow-up (LTFU) or deceased, with clients who were retained in care at the end of follow-up, Cox proportional hazards modeling was used to examine independent associations with mortality or LTFU.

Results: Among 425 participants enrolled, the median age was 50 years (IQR 40-59), 286 (67.3%) participants were men and 128 (25.4%) were unstably housed at enrollment. Among 338 participants with at least six months of follow-up after enrolment, 262 participants (67.5%) were retained in care, 20 (5.2%) had moved, 57 (14.7%) were classified as LTFU, and 28 (7.2%) had died with a median of 19.9 months of follow-up time. The risk of death or LTFU was independently associated diagnosed with alcohol use disorder (AUD) (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR] = 2.23 vs. not; 1.38-3.60), frequency of medical doctor visits (AHR = 0.69 per visit per 3 months; 0.60-0.79) and social work visits (AHR = 0.73 per visit per 3 months; 0.59-0.90. Stimulant use disorder or asthma were not significantly associated with retention in care.

Conclusion: We found that a primary healthcare model of care was successful in retaining over two-thirds of clients in primary healthcare after more than 18 months of follow-up. Additional supports for those diagnosed with alcohol use disorder are needed to retain them in care.

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