Table 1 Number and percent agreeing or strongly agreeing with statement for HPATHI items by medical training
HPATHI Item | Overall (n = 371) | Medical Students (Year 1–2) (n = 178) | Medical Students (Year 3–4) (n = 142) | ER Residents and Staff (n = 51) | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Attitudes | |||||
Homeless people are victims of circumstances | 209 (56.3) | 110 (61.8) | 79 (55.6) | 20 (39.2) | 0.016§ |
Homeless people have the right to basic health care | 368 (99.2) | 176 (98.9) | 141 (99.3) | 51 (100.0) | 0.721 |
Homelessness is a major problem in our society | 311 (83.8) | 146 (82.0) | 122 (85.9) | 43 (84.3) | 0.640 |
I understand that my patients’ priorities may be more important to them than following my medical recommendationsx | 315 (85.1) | 155 (87.6) | 120 (84.5) | 40 (78.4) | 0.261 |
Health-care dollars should be directed toward serving the poor and homelessx | 253 (68.4) | 124 (69.7) | 97 (68.8) | 32 (62.7) | 0.639 |
Doctors should address the physical and social problems of the homeless | 282 (76.0) | 144 (80.9) | 108 (76.1) | 30 (58.8) | 0.005§ |
I believe social justice is an important part of health care† | 289 (78.3) | 144 (81.8) | 107 (75.4) | 38 (74.5) | 0.295 |
Homeless people are lazy | 17 (4.58) | 9 (5.06) | 7 (4.93) | 1 (1.96) | 0.627 |
Homeless people choose to be homeless | 21 (5.66) | 11 (6.18) | 6 (4.22) | 4 (7.84) | 0.579 |
Interest | |||||
I entered medicine because I want to help those in needx | 329 (88.9) | 158 (88.8) | 128 (90.8) | 43 (84.3) | 0.450 |
I am interested in working with the underservedx | 247 (66.8) | 122 (68.5) | 94 (66.7) | 31 (60.8) | 0.584 |
I enjoy addressing psychosocial issues with patientsx | 196 (53.0) | 98 (55.4) | 83 (58.5) | 15 (29.4) | 0.001§ |
I enjoy learning about the lives of my homeless patientsx | 147 (39.7) | 74 (41.8) | 62 (43.7) | 11 (21.6) | 0.016§ |
I resent the amount of time it takes to see homeless patients‡ | 25 (6.74) | 12 (6.74) | 11 (7.75) | 2 (3.92) | 0.646 |
Confidence | |||||
I am comfortable being a primary care provider for a homeless person with a major mental illness | 181 (48.8) | 83 (46.6) | 77 (54.2) | 21 (41.2) | 0.202 |
I feel comfortable being part of a team when providing care to the homeless | 323 (87.1) | 146 (82.0) | 131 (92.3) | 46 (90.2) | 0.020 |
I feel comfortable providing care to different minority and cultural groups | 337 (90.8) | 158 (88.8) | 131 (92.3) | 48 (94.1) | 0.383 |
I feel overwhelmed by the complexity of the problems that homeless people have | 175 (47.17) | 90 (50.56) | 73 (51.41) | 12 (23.53) | 0.001§ |