Numerous Anglo-Saxon studies show that the absence of personal housing (the absence of a “home”) is associated with a high risk of premature mortality. A study published in the Weekly Epidemiological Bulletin (BEH) of the Institute for Health Surveillance (InVS) therefore estimated the number of deaths of homeless people in France between 2008 and 2010.
This study is based on cross-checks between data from the Collectif Les Morts de la Rue and data from the national database of medical causes of death from Cépi-DC Inserm. It made it possible to determine that 6730 homeless would have died prematurely in France between 2008 and 2010. But additional studies on the causes of death of this population are still in progress in order to determine them. “It will only be emphasized that the sometimes daily need to find accommodation and financial resources can overshadow other priorities affecting health status” explain the authors.
The victims of these premature deaths are mostly men (88%), who died on average at age 49, ie 30 years before the average age of death for men in the general population (79 years).
This survey also reveals an increase and a heterogeneity of homeless people over the last decade: some are accommodated by relatives, others in social hotels, in collective centers for the night or on a longer term basis, others still sleep on the street or in places not intended for habitation. The authors also note an increase in the number of families with children since they represent a quarter of the homeless population.
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