The association between chronic conditions, COVID-19 infection, and food insecurity among the older US adults: findings from the 2020–2021 National Health Interview Survey

BMC Public Health

Research

Jiahui Cai¹  Aurelian Bidulescu¹ 

[1] Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, IN, USA;

关键词: Household food insecurity;    Chronic conditions;    COVID-19 pandemic;    Older adults;    National health interview survey;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-15061-8

 received in 2022-09-21, accepted in 2023-01-16,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundThis study aims to examine how the presence of chronic conditions or positive COVID-19 infection (as exposures) is related to food insecurity (as an outcome) in the older population and whether there is a dose–response relationship between the number of chronic conditions and the severity of food insecurity.MethodsCross-sectional data of 17,977 older adults (≥ 65 years) from the 2020–2021 National Health Interview Survey were analyzed. Chronic conditions included physical health conditions (i.e., arthritis, coronary heart diseases, hypertension, stroke, prediabetes, diabetes, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and disability) and mental health conditions (i.e., anxiety and depression disorder). COVID-19 infection status was determined by a self-reported diagnosis of COVID-19. Household food insecurity was measured using the 10-item US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Security Survey Module with a 30-day look-back window. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the association between health conditions and food insecurity controlling for socio-demographic factors.ResultsOur results indicated that 4.0% of the older adults lived in food-insecure households. The presence of chronic conditions was significantly associated with higher odds of being food insecure independent of socio-demographic factors (AOR ranged from 1.17 to 3.58, all p < 0.0001). Compared with participants with 0–1 chronic condition, the odds of being (low or very low) food insecure was 1.09 to 4.07 times higher for those with 2, or ≥ 3 chronic conditions (all p < 0.0001). The severity of food insecurity significantly increased as the number of chronic conditions increased (p for trend < 0.0001). Besides, COVID-infected participants were 82% more likely to be very low food secure than the non-infected participants (AOR = 1.82, 95% CI: 1.80, 1.84).ConclusionsThe presence of chronic conditions or positive COVID-infection is independently associated with household food insecurity. Clinical health professionals may help identify and assist individuals at risk of food insecurity. Management and improvement of health conditions may help reduce the prevalence and severity of food insecurity in the older population.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

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