Brain injury endemic among homeless, says Vancouver researcher
Global News
Researchers found 31 per cent of those they interviewed between December 2016 and May 2018 reported at least one traumatic brain injury during that time.
Traumatic brain injury is so common among the homeless that prevention should be prioritized for people facing multiple challenges and worse outcomes compared with “affluent populations,” says the lead author of a study in Vancouver that monitored participants for symptoms every month for a year.
Tiffany O’Connor said rates of brain injury are endemic among the homeless and precariously housed so health-care professionals and service providers need standardized training to screen for symptoms of even mild injury involving people often struggling with challenges like mental illness and cognitive impairment.
“Substance use is pretty ubiquitous. Almost all people in this population that we studied have reported some sort of alcohol or drug use. Major mental illness was very common, neurological illness was very common,” said O’Connor, a recent PhD graduate in Simon Fraser University’s psychology department.
The study, published this week in the journal EClinicalMedicine-Lancet, included 326 participants recruited from Vancouver’s low-income Downtown Eastside, a community court and the emergency department of a nearby hospital.
Researchers who were also from the University of British Columbia found 31 per cent of those they interviewed between December 2016 and May 2018 reported at least one traumatic brain injury during that time.
Nearly 10 per cent of brain injuries were related to substance use among people who could have fallen and hit their head or been assaulted afterwards, O’Connor said.
More than half of the participants reported a history of brain injury, leading to greater challenges, including for those with a physical disability and lack of resources to adequately recover, she said.
Falls accounted for 45 per cent of the brain injuries, mostly among homeless females, followed by assaults at 25 per cent, especially for men.