Medical issues of adult men residing in homeless shelters in Gdańsk, Poland

OBJECTIVES: To describe sociodemographic characteristics, facility use and health conditions among adult men residing in homeless shelters in Gdańsk, Poland. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional analysis of routinely collected non-governmental organization's operational records. METHODS: From 551 male shelter residents supported by the Saint Brother Albert's Aid Society in 2023, a random sample of 226 was selected. We summarized age, disability status, hospitalizations, diagnoses (ICD-10) and shelter use with descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Median age was 60 years; 42% had certified disability. In 2023, 31% were hospitalized at least once and 17 individuals had ≥3 admissions. Frequent diagnoses included essential hypertension (20%), epilepsy (11-12%) and heart failure (10%); alcohol dependence was documented in 40%. Infectious burdens were present, including tuberculosis (∼6%). Facility use concentrated in shelters with care services; night-shelter users had more admissions/removals and more fragmented stays. CONCLUSIONS: Adult men experiencing homelessness in Gdańsk have substantial cardiovascular, neurological and infectious disease burdens with frequent hospital use. More studies based on medical registers and social services data should be conducted in the future.