Food Insecurity Among LGBQ+ Veterans

Abstract

Importance: Food insecurity is associated with numerous adverse health outcomes. Little is known about the prevalence of and risks for food insecurity among veterans identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, and similar (LGBQ+), a population facing unique social barriers and medical comorbidities.

Objective: To examine food insecurity and potential risk factors among LGBQ+ veterans.

Design, setting, and participants: This retrospective, cross-sectional study used administrative data from all US Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities nationally. Participants included veterans screened for food insecurity between March 1, 2021, and August 31, 2023.

Exposure: Positive response to food insecurity screening administered in VHA facilities as part of routine clinical care.

Main outcomes and measures: Prevalence of and sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial factors associated with food insecurity among veterans identifying as LGBQ+ or heterosexual and those with "don't know" responses regarding their sexual orientation.

Results: Of 3 580 148 veterans screened, the mean (SD) age was 61.6 (0.4) years; 3 192 507 (89.2%) were assigned male sex at birth. A total of 83 292 veterans (2.3%) identified as LGBQ+, and 10 183 (0.3%) had "don't know" responses. LGBQ+ veterans (5352 [6.4%]) and veterans with "don't know" responses (635 [6.2%]) were more than twice as likely as heterosexual veterans (90 426 [2.6%]) to have positive screen results for food insecurity. While risk factors for food insecurity were similar for veterans across sexual orientation groups, LGBQ+ veterans had higher rates of several risk factors compared with heterosexual veterans, including age younger than 45 years (45.3% vs 19.5%), female sex assigned at birth (44.1% vs 10.0%), being in a minoritized racial or ethnic group (34.7% vs 29.8%), unmarried or unpartnered status (69.1% vs 39.7%), low income (16.4% vs 14.9%), homelessness or housing instability (10.3% vs 5.4%), anxiety (7.7% vs 4.3%), depression (31.1% vs 19.3%), suicidality (3.6% vs 1.4%), posttraumatic stress disorder (42.2% vs 30.2%), substance use disorder (13.1% vs 9.0%), military sexual trauma (24.0% vs 5.4%), and recent intimate partner violence (2.6% vs 1.4%).

Conclusions and relevance: In this cohort study of veterans screened for food insecurity, LGBQ+ veterans and those with "don't know" responses for sexual orientation experienced food insecurity at nearly 2.5 times the rate of heterosexual veterans. While risk factors for food insecurity were similar across groups, LGBQ+ veterans faced a higher prevalence of particular risks, including homelessness and several mental health and trauma-related comorbidities. Future work should examine targeted screening and interventions tailored to identifying and addressing food insecurity in this population, given their increased vulnerability and burden of food insecurity.

Figure.. Flowchart of the Analytic Sample