Over 2,000 homeless people die each year

Between 2008 and 2010, nearly 6,730 homeless people died in France, or more than 2,000 each year, according to the first French estimate of the number of homeless deaths published on Tuesday in the last weekly epidemiological bulletin.

According to a 2012 study by the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee), 81,000 live in the streets of France. In ten years, the number of homeless people has increased by 50% and nearly a third are children, say the authors.

However, few studies have looked at their living conditions, their state of health and their risk of mortality. In Anglo-Saxon countries and some European countries, this research constitutes a substantial body of work. In particular, they have shown that the main causes of death are cardiovascular disease, accidents, poisoning and suicide.

Eight out of ten are men

For their work, the French researchers used data from CépiDc-Inserm, which groups together all death certificates occurring on French territory, and those of the Collectif The dead in the streets. According to the association’s partial census published on November 12, the dead homeless people are mainly men (88%) under 49 years old.

The researchers admit that their estimate is “quite imprecise and greatly exceeds the number of deaths identified individually by the sources used in this study.” This imprecision is due to the fact that the databases are not exhaustive, in particular CépiDc-Inserm which does not systematically indicate the person’s “homeless” status.
“The only way to improve the deferral of this characteristic would be to introduce a specific place on the death certificate concerning the homeless status, which is not possible at this time,” say the researchers, who specify that the deaths from CépiDc-Inserm indicating that the deceased was homeless are those for whom the doctor considered that this had played a role in the death.

Nevertheless, the researchers explain that the count of the deaths of the homeless could be carried out routinely in order to follow the evolution of the mortality.
“This is a first step in the implementation of public policies aimed at reducing premature mortality in this population. Studies on the causes of death are underway to further document this question, ”the authors conclude.