ArticleCMAJ open
Trends in hospital coding for people experiencing homelessness in Canada, 2015-2020: a descriptive study.
Article in CMAJ open. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Disparities in Delayed Discharge Among Patients Experiencing Homelessness.JAMA network open · 2026Article
- Homelessness is a health crisis: why hospitals are resorting to building housing.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundIn 2018, hospitals were mandated to record homelessness using
methodsWe conducted a serial cross-sectional study describing 6 fiscal years (2015/16 to 2020/21) of hospital administrative data from the Hospital Morbidity Database. We reported frequencies and percentages of hospitalizations with a Z59.0 diagnostic code and disaggregated by several types of Canadian geographies. Controlling for fiscal quarter (coded Q1 to Q4) and province or territory, adjusted logistic regression models quantified the odds of Z59.0 being coded during hospital stays.
resultsThe frequency and percentage of people experiencing homelessness in hospitalization records across Canada increased from 6934 (0.12%) in 2015/16 to 21 529 (0.41%) in 2020/21. Trends varied by province and territory. Recording of the Z59.0 code increased following the mandate (adjusted odds ratio 2.29, 95% confidence interval 2.25-2.32), relative to the pre-mandate period.
interpretationThe 2018 coding mandate coincided with an increase in the use of the Z59.0 code to document homelessness in health care administrative data; however, trends varied by jurisdiction. The ICD-10-CA code Z59.0 presents a promising opportunity for standardized and routinely collected data to identify people experiencing homelessness in hospital administrative data.
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Registered trials
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