Abstract
Background and objectives
Street-based clinics provide general practice services to marginalised and homeless persons. The objective of this study was to examine prevalence, patterns and severity of multimorbidity in patients attending one such service.
Method
A retrospective cohort study (2006-15), comprising medical record review of patients (n = 4285), was undertaken. A Cumulative Illness Rating Scale (CIRS) was used to assess multimorbidity.
Results
Average age of patients was 38.2 +/- 17.9 years. Of 31.5% Aboriginal patients, 50.8% were female (37.6% in non-Aboriginal patients). Of all patients, 53% had multimorbidity. Aboriginal patients had higher rates of multimorbidity than non-Aboriginal patients (58.0% vs 50.6%, P
Discussion
Street-based general practice services are critical to facilitate easy access to primary and secondary management of chronic multimorbid conditions in marginalised (especially Aboriginal) patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 181-+ |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Australian journal of general practice |
| Volume | 47 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| Publication status | Published - Apr 2018 |