Making the invisible visible: using national surveillance data to identify people experiencing homelessness in England with COVID-19.

ABSTRACT: Persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) or rough sleeping are a vulnerable population, likely to be disproportionately affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The impact of COVID-19 infection on this population is yet to be fully described in England. We present a novel method to identify COVID-19 cases in this population and describe its findings. A phenotype was developed and validated to identify PEH or rough sleeping in a national surveillance system. Confirmed COVID-19 cases in England from March 2020 to March 2022 were address-matched to known homelessness accommodations and shelters. Further cases were identified using address-based indicators, such as NHS pseudo postcodes. In total, 1835 cases were identified by the phenotype. Most were <39 years of age (66.8%

SUBMITTER: Capelastegui F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10063863 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature