Risk of dementia among veterans experiencing homelessness and housing instability

In the United States, nearly 85,000 Veterans experienced homelessness during 2020, and thousands more are experiencing housing instability, representing a significant proportion of the population.¹ Many Veterans experiencing homelessness are aging and have complex co-occurring medical, psychiatric, and substance use disorders. Homelessness and older age put Veterans at greater risk for age-related disorders, including Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD).

We examined the rate of ADRD diagnosis for Veterans experiencing homelessness and housing instability compared to a matched cohort of stably housed Veterans over a nine-year period using cox proportional hazard models.

In the matched cohort, 95% (n = 88,811) of Veterans were men, and 67% (n = 59,443) were White and were on average 63 years old (SD = 10.8). Veterans with housing instability had a higher hazard of 1.53 (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.50, 1.59) for ADRD compared to Veterans without housing instability.

Veterans experiencing housing instability have a substantially higher risk of receiving an ADRD diagnosis than a matched cohort of stably housed Veterans. Health systems and providers should consider cognitive screening among people experiencing housing insecurity. Existing permanent supportive housing programs should consider approaches to modify wraparound services to support Veterans experiencing ADRD.