alcohol use among homeless men in tehran, iran: risk and protective factors

Background: alcohol use is one of the most complicated health problems. the understanding of risk and protective factors contributing to alcohol use could help deal with this problem more efficiently. objectives: the present study examined the risk and protective factors for alcohol use among homeless men living in tehran, iran. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted from september to november 2015. a total of 193 homeless men were recruited using convenience sampling from khavaran shelter, the largest shelter for homeless people, in the south of tehran. data were analyzed using a logistic regression model to examine if using alcohol is associated with potential risk and protective factors. conducting logistic regression, adjusted odds ratio (aor) point estimate and 95% confidence interval (ci 95%) as the effect measures were reported. all tests were run using spss version 21. results: the prevalence rates of recent (past 7 days) and past-year alcohol use were 14.5% (95% ci: 9.50, 19.50) and 43.52% (95% ci: 36.50, 50.50), respectively. hosmer-lemeshow test (χ2 (4) = 10.37, p = 0.17) indicated the goodness of fit of the model to the data. the results of the fitted logistic regression model explained that social support (or = 0.63, ci 95%: 0.36-1.08) and being a local resident (or = 0.32, ci 95%: 0.17 - 0.61) were the protective factors while the level of relationship with peer network (or = 2.08, ci 95%: 1.19 - 3.63) and having a history of arrest (or = 3.16, ci 95%: 1.34 - 7.46) were risk factors of alcohol use among iranian homeless men during the last year. the predictors entered into the regression model could explain between 13% and 17.5% of the variance of the outcome (alcohol use). conclusions: this study contributes to the existing literature by examining risk and protective factors among a high-risk population. our findings can be used in designing and implementing interventions that are more effective for the homeless group living in a non-western context.