Abstract
Objectives This study is the first ever field survey in Japan of the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among homeless people in one area of Tokyo. The main aim of was to make accurate diagnoses by a psychiatrist to give an accurate picture.
Methods The survey period was from December 30, 2008 to January 4, 2009. The people covered by the survey were people living on the streets within a one-kilometer radius of JR Ikebukuro Station in this period. The survey area was selected within Toshima City as a district where it would be possible to roughly grasp the total number of homeless people. The definition of homeless people in this study was the same as that which was stipulated in the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare national survey. A total of 115 people living on the streets received the written request to participate in the survey and 80 agreed to do so, beiung enrolled as the subjects of this study. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) questionnaires and a separately created questionnaire that asked about the subjects' living circumstances were used in the interviews and finally, a psychiatrist made diagnoses of psychiatric disorders according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM–IV–TR) diagnosis standards.
Results The average age of the subjects was 50.5 (standard deviation; 12.3) and there were 75 men (93.8%) and 5 women (6.3%). 50 people (62.5%) were diagnosed with psychiatric disorders which included 33 people (41.3%) who had depression, 12 (15%) who were dependent on alcohol and 12 (15%) who had psychotic disorders such as hallucinations or delusions. Using the degree of risk in the MINI classification, 45 (57.0%) were at risk of committing suicide and 25 people (31.6%) had already attempted suicide in the past.
Conclusion The representativeness of homeless people in Japan who have psychiatric disorders in this study is limited but that the finding of 62.5% of homeless people suffering from some symptoms and a high risk of suicide suggestss that this is an urgent issue for medical support.
