Health disparities in the Native Hawaiian homeless

While it is well accepted that Native Hawaiians have poor health statistics compared to other ethnic groups in Hawaii, it is not well documented if these disparities persist when comparing Native Hawaiian homeless individuals to the general homeless population. This paper examines the Native Hawaiian homeless population living in three shelters on the island of Oahu, to determine if there are significant differences in the frequency of diseases between the Native Hawaiian and non-Native Hawaiian homeless. A retrospective data collection was performed using records from the Hawaii Homeless Outreach and Medical Education (H.O.M.E.) project. Data from 1182 patients was collected as of 12/05/09. Information collected included patient demographics, frequency of self reported diseases, family history of diseases, risk factors, prevalence of chronic diseases, and most common complaints. The data from Native Hawaiians and non-Native Hawaiians were examined for differences and a 1-tail Fisher exact analysis was done to confirm significance. The data reveals that the Native Hawaiian homeless population is afflicted more frequently with asthma and hypertension compared to other ethnic groups. While diabetes constituted more visits to the clinics for Native Hawaiians compared to the non-Native Hawaiians, there was no significant difference in patient reported prevalence of diabetes. The Native Hawaiian homeless also had increased rates of risky behaviors demonstrated by higher past use of marijuana and methamphetamines. Interestingly, there was a lower use of alcohol in the Native Hawaiian homeless and no significant difference between Native Hawaiians and non-native Hawaiians in current use of illicit drugs, which may represent a hopeful change in behaviors. These troubling statistics show that some of the health disparities seen in the general Native Hawaiian population persist despite the global impoverished state of all homeless. Hopefully, these results will aid organizations like the H.O.M.E. project to better address the health needs of the Native Hawaiian homeless population.