Los Angeles County health officials report homeless deaths rose for the second consecutive year Increase mortality rate by 56% In the past two years, it has been upgraded.
However, the mortality rate for homelessness continues to be high, with an average of 6.9 deaths per day in 2023, a year covering recent reports. Overall, homeless people die 4.5 times the total population.
During the year, 2508 people died in streets and in shelters, a 5.6% increase over the previous year. Due to the increase in homeless counts during the period, the mortality rate was 3,326 deaths per 100,000 people, a decrease of 1.3%. This is an improvement of 2.1% growth in 2022.
rate Drugs and alcohol overdose The death toll dropped slightly, but remained the main cause, accounting for 45% of all deaths. 70% of these involve the synthetic opioid fentanyl. Coronary artery disease is the second major cause, accounting for 14% of the death toll, a 22% increase. Transportation accident Stay stable overall, but the second biggest reason for women. On average, every other day, a homeless person is killed in a car accident. Homicides fell 25% in fourth place.
Men are more likely to die from all causes than women, accounting for 68% of the population, but 82% of the death toll. 62% of deaths are those under 55 years of age, a phenomenon attributed to higher rates of overdose in younger groups. Whites have the highest death rate, accounting for 19% of the population, but 32% of all deaths. Black and Latin Americans have fewer deaths than the population.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s sixth report on homeless mortality rates describes the current trend as a plateau. This is attributed in part to the distribution of nassarone (from 2021 to 2023) and the triple distribution of other mental health and drug use treatment services. It said nearly 479,000 doses of nassarone were allocated in 2024.
The report lists 17 recommendations that fall into four categories: rapid access to housing and shelters; expanding overdose prevention; physical and mental health treatment; and working with municipalities and non-individual communities to reduce traffic deaths.
Calculation of homeless mortality is inherently unstable. It relies on annual counts of homeless populations that have built-in errors and imperfect means of determining the death of homeless people.
The deaths were mainly from the records of accidents and violent cases of medical examiners in Los Angeles County. Other deaths are obtained from the status database searching for death certificates.
Improvements in the state’s data could increase year-on-year growth in 2023 by adding the checkbox for homelessness. State data contributed 12% of confirmed deaths, more than the previous year.
This year’s report also includes a footnote indicating that The initial discovery in 2022 Due to the backlog of toxicological tests, medical examiners later identified toxicological tests related to the drug, so the escalation of overdose rates must be modified upward. It says a smaller backlog can also change the results for 2023, but to a smaller extent.
The number of homeless people is averaged over two years to estimate middle grade. This year’s report used a three-year average as the 2021 count was cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic.
