Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41324591›Full record

ArticleAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)2025

Normalization of alcohol misuse and alcohol-related harms: a mixed methods analysis exploring alcohol misuse, morbidity, and healthcare engagement in people experiencing homelessness.

Catherine Wells, Rachel Dewar-Haggart, Kate Glyn-Owen, Hannah Stevens, Julie Parkes, Yun Kim, Ryan M Buchanan

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire), 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Catherine WellsPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Rachel Dewar-HaggartPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Kate Glyn-OwenPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Hannah StevensUniversity Hospital Southampton, Tremona Road, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Julie ParkesPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Yun KimPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.
Ryan M BuchananPrimary Care, Population Sciences and Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Tremona Road, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO16 6YD, United Kingdom.

Funding

Academy of Medical Sciences starter
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

aimTo understand the views and experiences of homeless adults who drink hazardously around alcohol use, alcohol harms and access to liver healthcare, and to quantify the prevalence of alcohol-related morbidity in this population.

methodsA sample of homeless adults (aged 18+) who drink hazardously (AUDIT score ≥8) were recruited to complete a health and alcohol use survey. From this sample, a smaller sample was purposively selected for semi-structured interview. Participants were recruited via liver outreach clinics held in five homeless hostels/day-centres in Southampton. Using a critical realist approach, qualitative data were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and descriptive statistics produced for survey responses.

resultsAround 56 survey participants were recruited, 84% of whom had probable alcohol dependence and 18% a diagnosis of advanced liver fibrosis/cirrhosis. Themes identified from 10 interviews described the ubiquity of alcohol misuse and harms in the life-histories of people experiencing homelessness (PEH), the differing levels of understanding and risk recognition of alcohol-related harms, and how PEH rationalize hazardous drinking, despite the risks. Normalization of alcohol misuse and harms underlies these themes and likely contributes to feelings of fatalism and powerlessness to prevent these harms.

conclusionsNormalization of alcohol-related harms may represent a barrier to timely engagement with healthcare and a mechanism driving greater likelihood of alcohol-related harms in PEH. Improving knowledge around alcohol-related harms and healthcare may help to counter the misperceptions of risk and fatalistic attitudes that normalization fosters. Such intervention may be particularly effective for PEH if targeted towards those accessing hostels and day-centres.

Indexed as

AlcoholismIll-Housed PersonsPatient Acceptance of Health CareAdultAgedFemaleHealth Services AccessibilityHumansMaleMiddle AgedMorbidityYoung Adultalcoholalcohol-related liver diseasehealthcarehomelessness

Identifiers

PMID41324591
PMCPMC12667265

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.