Introduction:

The amount of homeless people has increased in Chile. The risky alcohol consumption is a behavior that could negatively affect their quality of life.

Objectives:

To compare the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of homeless people users of a Valparaíso day center with the Chilean reference population and compare the HRQOL of homeless people with and without risky alcohol consumption.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study conducted on 53 homeless users of a day center shelter in Valparaíso, Chile from 2015 to 2016. A questionnaire was applied for sociodemographic variables, HRQOL (SF-12) and alcohol consumption (AUDIT). The statistical analysis was performed with STATA version 12.

Results:

54.71 % of the participants presented risky alcohol consumption. The effect size of the differences between the means of the scores of the homeless vs. The effect size of the differences between the mean scores of homeless people compared to the Chilean reference population is large for seven HRQoL dimensions, which is greater in physical function (r = 1.89), emotional role ( r = 2.12) and mental health (r = 1.85). HRQoL for homeless people was no different concerning risky alcohol consumption compared to those who declared low risk consumption.

Discussion:

The results coincide with a study that shows that the HRQOL of the target population is worse than in the general population and that in people with chronic diseases.

Conclusions:

Living on the streets affects all the dimensions of the HRQOL. Dimensions of HRQOL are not affected by risky alcohol consumption.

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