Association of food insecurity with health, access to care, affordability of care, financial burden of care, and financial hardships among US adults during the COVID-19 pandemic

Copyright © 2024 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved..

OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations between food insecurity and health, access to care, affordability of care, financial burden of care, and financial hardships among US adults during the COVID-19 pandemic and examine whether the associations were less pronounced among adults with safety nets.

STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal cohort study using the 2020-2021 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

METHODS: Linear probability models were used to assess the associations between food insecurity in one year and the outcomes of interest in the following year while adjusting for baseline characteristics. We performed the analyses for the entire population and then conducted stratified analyses for adults with and without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits or Medicaid coverage.

RESULTS: Compared with food-secure adults, food-insecure adults were 9.1 percentage points less likely to report life satisfaction and 9.9, 10.2, and 13.2 percentage points more likely to experience delays in getting medical care, postpone or forgo medical care because of cost, and struggle with paying medical bills. Food-insecure adults were 30.4, 27.2, and 23.5 percentage points more likely to face challenges in affording necessities, paying utility bills, and meeting rent or mortgage payments on time than food-secure adults. Notably, the strengths of these associations were attenuated among adults with SNAP benefits or Medicaid coverage.

CONCLUSIONS: Food insecurity was associated with poor health, limited access to and affordability of care, and a greater financial burden of care among US adults during the pandemic. Nevertheless, safety net programs can play a critical role in alleviating adverse consequences.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2024

Erschienen:

2024

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:230

Enthalten in:

Public health - 230(2024) vom: 11. Apr., Seite 183-189

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Park, S [VerfasserIn]
Ortega, A N [VerfasserIn]
Chen, J [VerfasserIn]
Mortensen, K [VerfasserIn]
Bustamante, A V [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Access to care
Affordability of care
COVID-19 pandemic
Financial burden of care
Food insecurity
Journal Article

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 16.04.2024

Date Revised 16.04.2024

published: Print-Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1016/j.puhe.2024.02.028

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM370545079