COVID-19 and Youth Experiencing Homelessness
Publication analyzes several factors
Significantly more youth served by Houston-area homeless shelters tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies than reported symptoms of the disease, Cizik School of Nursing at UTHealth Houston researchers found in a recently published paper in Nursing Research.
The article is among the first results published from Dean Diane Santa Maria’s five-year grant from the National Institute of Nursing Research to assess a nurse case management intervention for HIV prevention and care among youth experiencing homelessness (YEH).* The COVID-19 study was funded through a supplement to the primary grant.
“We knew that YEH were at higher risk of contracting COVID-19 and having poorer outcomes than the general population,” said Santa Maria, DrPH, MSN, ACRN, PHNA-BC, FAAN. “Our goal with this study was to identify and quantify trends and factors that influenced disease risk and vaccine uptake.”
The team enrolled 265 YEH in the COVID-19 study between March 2021 and December 2022. Blood tests determined whether participants had antibodies from natural infection or vaccination. In addition, the youth were asked about vaccinations and surveyed on a variety of factors including gender identity, sexual orientation, COVID-19 prevention measures, anxiety and fear, and where they had slept the previous night.
“We found that YEH in our study were more likely to be vaccinated and less likely to report symptoms than youth who participated in similar studies in other cities,” Santa Maria said. “This is likely because most were recruited from local shelters that tended to require vaccinations.”
While only 12% of study participants reported experiencing COVD-19 symptoms, blood tests showed that about 30% had antibodies from natural infection and another 55% had antibodies from vaccination. Youth were more likely to have naturally occurring antibodies if they sheltered with family or friends, and less likely if they were worried about their post-COVID mental health.
“The study results suggested that testing would be more effective than symptom assessment in limiting the spread of infection in shelters where other mitigating factors like social distancing can be difficult,” Santa Maria said. “Vaccination should also be prioritized in congregate living settings to reduce health disparities among YEH.”
Co-authors on the paper were Nikhil Padhye, PhD, and Jennifer Torres Jones, Cizik School of Nursing; Professor Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, MD, and Carolyn Z. Grimes, DrPH, Division of Infectious Diseases, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston; Adeline Nymathi, PhD, MSN, University of California Irvine Sue & Bill Gross School of Nursing; Marguerita Lightfoot, PhD, Portland State University School of Public Health; and Yasmeen Quadri, MD, and Mary E. Paul, MD, Balor College of Medicine.
* COVID-19 Vaccination Uptake, Infection Rates, and Seropositivity Among Youth Experiencing Homelessness in the United States. Nursing Research 73(5):p 373-380, 9/10 2024. | DOI: 10.1097/NNR.0000000000000747.
