Journal
JOURNAL OF GENERAL INTERNAL MEDICINE
Volume 21, Issue 1, Pages 71-77Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1111/j.1525-1497.2005.00278.x
Keywords
homelessness; hunger; access to care; disparities
Funding
- AHRQ HHS [K08 HS011415, K08 HS011415-03] Funding Source: Medline
- AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY [K08HS011415] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
Ask authors/readers for more resources
BACKGROUND: Homelessness and hunger are associated with poor health outcomes. Housing instability and food insecurity describe less severe problems securing housing and food. OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between housing instability and food insecurity and access to ambulatory health care and rates of acute health care utilization. DESIGN. Secondary data analysis of the National Survey of American Families. PARTICIPANTS: 16,651 low-income adults. MEASUREMENT: Self-reported measures of past-year access: (1) not having a usual source of care, (2) postponing needed medical care. or (3) postponing medication; and past-year utilization: (1) not having an ambulatory care visit, (2) having emergency department (ED) visits, or (3) inpatient hospitalization. RESULTS: 23.6% of subjects had housing instability and 42.7% had food insecurity. In multivariate logistic regression models, housing instability was independently associated with not having a usual source of care (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 1.31, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08 to 1.59), postponing needed medical care (AOR 1.84, 95% CI 1.46 to 2.31) and postponing medications (AOR 2.16, 95% CI 1.70 to 2.74). increased ED use (AOR: 1.43, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.70), and hospitalizations (AOR 1.30, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.67). Food insecurity was independently associated with postponing needed medical care (AOR 1.74. 95% CI 1.38 to 2.21) and postponing medications (AOR 2.15. 95% CI 1.62 to 2.85), increased ED use (AOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.17 to 1.66). and hospitalizations (AOR 1.42, 95% CI 1.09 to 1.85). CONCLUSIONS: Housing instability and food insecurity are associated with poor access to ambulatory care and high rates of acute care. These competing life demands may lead to delays in seeking care and predispose to acute care.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available