OBJECTIVES: Determine the prevalence of food insufficiency and describe the association of food insufficiency with health status and health care utilization in a national sample of diabetics.
METHODS: We analyzed data from diabetics (n=1503) interviewed in NHANES III. Individuals were classified as food insufficient if their family sometimes or often did not get enough to eat or had to cut down on the size of their meals because of financial constraints. Both bivariate and multivariate analysis were used to examine the impact of food insufficiency on self-reported health status and physician utilization.
RESULTS: Six percent of diabetics reported food insufficiency, representing over 568,600 diabetics nationally (95% CI 368,400; 768,800). Diabetics who were food insufficient were more likely to report fair or poor health status than those who were not food insufficient (63% vs. 43%, OR 2.2, p=.05). In a multivariate analysis, fair or poor health status was independently associated with non-white race, poverty, low educational achievement, and number of chronic diseases, but not with food insufficiency. Diabetics who were food insufficient reported more physician encounters, either in clinic or by phone, than those who were food secure (12 vs. 7, p<.05). In a multivariate linear regression, food insufficiency remained independently associated with increased physician utilization among diabetics.
CONCLUSIONS: Food insufficiency is relatively common in this national sample of diabetics and increased physician utilization and reduced health status. Prospective studies are needed to understand the impact of food insufficiency on the health status of and health care utilization by diabetics.
Learning Objectives: Describe the prevalence of food insufficiency and its' association with health status and health care utilization in a national sample of diabetics
Keywords: Food Security, Diabetes
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.