[Health status and lifestyle issues of homeless people in Sapporo city, 2000]

To clarify the health status and lifestyle issues of homeless people in Sapporo city, voluntary "health consultations and medical examinations" were carried out near an emergency kitchen.

The voluntary activities were held in a park near the shelter tents of homeless people seven times from December 1999 to December 2000. The homeless people who consulted us, medical doctors, were asked detailed questions about past history, present illness, subjective symptoms, lifestyles and so on, and were examined for their blood pressure and urinary parameter.

A total of 60 homeless people, including 59 men and 1 woman, were consulted and examined, Fifty-seven percent of them were 50 years old of older, and 30% had been homeless for less than half a year. Forty percent had some dental problems, 28% suffered neck stiffness, and 27% back pain. The medical examination found 53% of them to be hypertensive and 26% to be diabetic. Twenty-five percent had meals only once a day, 55% had meat or fish in their diet not more than twice a week and 57% had vegetables in their diet not more than twice a week. Forty-two percent slept not more than 5 hours a day, 13% often drank alcohol in the daytime, and 83% were smokers.

The present results suggest that lifestyle-related chronic diseases are more significant problems among homeless people in Sapporo city than common infectious diseases such as tuberculosis or dysentery, probably because it is colder and therefore there are fewer homeless people in Sapporo city than in other major cities in Japan such as Tokyo and Osaka. Further studies of the homeless people living in such a cold environment are warranted to develop better health policies for them in the context of their social and economical determinants. In addition, it is important to establish a more reliable registration system for these people in order to plan and provide a comprehensive social and health support network as needed.