Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2010 May;38(4):524-8.
doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2008.11.027. Epub 2009 Mar 9.

Food security, health, and medication expenditures of emergency department patients

Ashley F Sullivan  1 , Sunday Clark, Daniel J Pallin, Carlos A Camargo Jr
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Food security, health, and medication expenditures of emergency department patients

Ashley F Sullivan et al. J Emerg Med. 2010 May.

Abstract

Background: In the United States, 35 million people live in food-insecure households. Although food insecurity and hunger are undesirable in their own right, they also are potential precursors to nutritional, health, and developmental problems.

Study objectives: To examine the prevalence of household food insecurity and its association with health problems and medication expenditures among Emergency Department (ED) patients.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in four Boston-area EDs and enrolled consecutive adult patients during two 24-h periods at each site. Food security status was measured using the validated 18-item US Household Food Security Survey Module.

Results: Overall, 66 (13%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 10-17%) of 520 ED patients screened positive for food insecurity. Among these 66 patients, 32 (48%; 95% CI 36-61%) reported food insecurity with hunger. Patients from food-insecure households differed from food-secure patients with respect to sociodemographic factors. Food-insecure patients were more likely than food-secure patients to report a variety of chronic and mental health problems (all p < 0.05), including obesity. Food-insecure patients, compared to food-secure patients, also were more likely (all p < 0.001) to put off paying for medication to have money for food (27% vs. 4%, respectively), to take medication less often because they couldn't afford more (32% vs. 4%, respectively), to report needing to make a choice between buying medication and food (27% vs. 2%, respectively), and to report getting sick because they couldn't afford to take medication (27% vs. 1%, respectively).

Conclusions: ED patients from food-insecure households report more chronic and mental health problems, and difficulty purchasing medication.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Nord M, Andrews M, Carlson S. Household Food Security in the United States, 2006. Washington, DC: United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service; 2007. Report No.: ERR-49.
    1. Brown JL, Shepard D, Martin T, Orwat J. The Economic Cost of Domestic Hunger. Gaithersburg, MD: Sodexho Foundation; 2007.
    1. Cook JT, Frank DA, Levenson SM, Neault NB, Heeren TC, Black MM, et al. Child food insecurity increases risks posed by household food insecurity to young children's health. J Nutr. 2006;136:1073–1076. - PubMed
    1. Kersey MA, Beran MS, McGovern PG, Biros MH, Lurie N. The prevalence and effects of hunger in an emergency department patient population. Acad Emerg Med. 1999;6:1109–1114. - PubMed
    1. Bickel G, Nord M, Price C, Hamilton W, Cook JT. Guide to Measuring Household Food Security. Alexandria, VA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service; 2000.

Publication types