Full Citation
Title: Household food insecurity and medication “scrimping” among US adults with diabetes
Citation Type: Journal Article
Publication Year: 2016
ISBN:
ISSN:
DOI: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2015.11.031
NSFID:
PMCID:
PMID: 26656403
Abstract: OBJECTIVE Our research examined the prevalence of food insecurity among adults with self-reported diabetes and whether food insecurity was associated with cutting back ("scrimping") on prescribed medications because of financial constraints. METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from the 2011 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS). Adults completing this survey were considered to have diabetes if they reported current use of insulin or "diabetic pills" (n=3,242). Food insecurity was determined with a 10-item scale; respondents were categorized as food secure (FS), marginally food secure (MFS) or food insecure (FI). RESULTS Approximately one in six adults in NHIS with diabetes reported food insecurity (17.0%), and an additional 8.8% were marginally FS. An individual was considered to be scrimping on medications if he/she gave a "yes" response to at least one of four questions pertaining to reduced, delayed or avoided medication use. Overall, 18.9% of respondents with diabetes reported one or more type of medication scrimping: 11.7% of FS individuals, 27.7% of MFS individuals and 45.6% of FI individuals. In adjusted analyses, marginal food security and food insecurity remained strongly associated with scrimping. CONCLUSIONS One-quarter of adults with diabetes may have difficulty obtaining foods appropriate for a diabetic diet; a substantial number of these individuals also fail to obtain or take medications. Practitioners may miss either problem unless targeted questions are included in clinical encounters. Clinicians should consider referring FI and MFS diabetic patients to community food resources.
Url: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26656403
User Submitted?: No
Authors: Knight, Chadwick K.; Probst, Janice C.; Liese, Angela D.; Sercy, Erica; Jones, Sonya J.
Periodical (Full): Preventive Medicine
Issue:
Volume: 83
Pages: 41-45
Data Collections: IPUMS Health Surveys - NHIS
Topics: Health, Housing and Segregation, Other, Population Health and Health Systems
Countries: