ArticleCJEM2024
Trends in emergency department visits during cold weather seasons among patients experiencing homelessness in Ontario, Canada: a retrospective population-based cohort study.
Article in CJEM, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 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
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Dying younger, dying of overdose: gendered and age dimensions of mortality and shelter service access among individuals experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Health services use for injury amongst persons experiencing homelessness in Ontario, Canada: a population-based retrospective matched cohort study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Review
- Disparities in healthcare costs of people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada in the post COVID-19 pandemic era: a matched cohort study.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Disparities in all-cause mortality among people experiencing homelessness in Toronto, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cohort study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- A holistic approach to climate change in the emergency department: Direct impact of environmental factors on patients.Turkish journal of emergency medicineReview
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
purposeRecent anecdotal reports suggest increasing numbers of people experiencing homelessness are visiting emergency departments (EDs) during cold weather seasons due to inadequate shelter availability. We examined monthly ED visits among patients experiencing homelessness to determine whether there has been a significant increase in such visits in 2022/2023 compared to prior years.
methodsWe used linked health administrative data to identify cohorts experiencing homelessness in Ontario between October and March of the 2018/2019 to 2022/2023 years. We analyzed the monthly rate of non-urgent ED visits as a proxy measure of visits plausibly attributable to avoidance of cold exposure, examining rates among patients experiencing homelessness compared to housed patients. We excluded visits for overdose or COVID-19. We assessed level and significance of change in the 2022/2023 year as compared to previous cold weather seasons using Poisson regression.
resultsWe identified a total of 21,588 non-urgent ED visits across the observation period among patients experiencing homelessness in Ontario. Non-urgent ED visits increased 27% (RR 1.24 [95% CI 1.14-1.34]) in 2022/2023 compared to previous cold weather seasons. In Toronto, such visits increased by 70% (RR 1.68 [95% CI 1.57-1.80]). Among housed patients, non-urgent ED visits did not change significantly during this time period.
conclusionRates of ED visits plausibly attributable to avoidance of cold exposure by individuals experiencing homelessness increased significantly in Ontario in 2022/2023, most notably in Toronto. This increase in ED visits may be related to inadequate access to emergency shelter beds and warming services in the community.
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Registered trials
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