Homeless Alcoholic Men Suffer Many Head Injuries

Men who are heavy drinkers and homeless for long periods of time have 400 times the number of head injuries as the general population, according to a new study . . . These men have 170 times as many severe head injuries as the general population and 300 times as many injuries that cause bleeding in the brain.

The study also looked at head injuries in the general homeless population and among people who are vulnerably housed, meaning they live in crowded, unsafe or unaffordable housing or are in danger of becoming homeless. Both these groups had about 23 times the number of head injuries as the general population, but rates much lower than the chronically homeless. . . .

In the general population in Canada, about 12 in every 10,000 men have a head injury that might involve a brain injury each year. Among the chronically homeless the number is 4,800 every year. Among men who are in low income housing each year, 370 in every 10,000 have such a head injury.

From here.

Thus, about 48% of homeless alcoholic men have a head injury in any given year while only 0.12% of people in the general population experience this kind of injury.

The brief press release did not discuss the source of these head injuries.