Importance of Food Insecurity Screening During Outpatient Visits (original) (raw)
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Doctors have an ethical obligation to ask patients about food insecurity: what is stopping us?
Journal of Medical Ethics, 2021
Inadequate diet is the leading risk factor for morbidity and mortality worldwide. However, approaches to identifying inadequate diets in clinical practice remain inconsistent, and dietary interventions (on both individual and public health policy levels) frequently focus on facilitating ‘healthy choices’, with limited emphasis on structural constraints. We examine the ethical implications of introducing a routine question in the medical history about ability to access food. Not collecting data on food security means that clinicians are unable to identify people who may benefit from support on an individual level, unable to consider relevant dietary risk factors for disease and disease progression and unable to monitor population trends and inequalities in dietary access in order to design effective policy interventions. We argue that the current lack of routine screening for food insecurity is inconsistent with our approach to other health behaviours (eg, smoking and alcohol use), a...
Screening for Food Insecurity: A Curriculum for Medical Students
PRiMER: Peer-review reports in medical education research, 2024
Introduction: Food insecurity (FI) is defined as a lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life. We sought to determine how a longitudinal FI screening curriculum impacts medical students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior in screening for FI. Methods: This was a prospective, single-institution study. The curriculum consisted of three components completed over 3 years. We administered a survey to the intervention cohort before and after the curriculum and analyzed their written reflections. We also evaluated whether students screened for FI during an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE) and compared their performance to a control cohort, which did not receive the curriculum. Results: Preintervention, students felt screening for FI was important for physicians to do with their patients, but most felt uncomfortable addressing it in clinical settings. Postintervention, there was a statistically significant increase in mean scores for knowledge questions (45.24% vs 74.74%, P<.001, pre- and postintervention, respectively). Students also felt more confident in their abilities to screen and follow up about FI. Additionally, compared to the control cohort, the intervention cohort screened for FI more often during their OSCE (28.21% vs 10.71%, P<.001). Conclusion: A longitudinal curriculum using minimal curricular time can improve students’ knowledge, attitudes, and behavior when screening for FI. Students who received the curriculum were more likely to recognize the need for and perform FI screening. Based on these findings, we anticipate that the curriculum will increase the likelihood of students identifying, screening for, and intervening in cases of FI in future clinical encounters.
Hunger and Food Insecurity among Patients Presenting to an Urban Emergency Department
Western Journal of Emergency Medicine, 2013
To determine the prevalence of hunger and food insecurity among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) over 3 consecutive years. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of patients presenting to the ED at Hennepin County Medical Center, and urban, Level I trauma center. We prospectively screened adult (age >18) patients presenting to the ED during randomized daily 8-hour periods between June 1 and August 31, 2007 and 2008, and randomized every-other-day periods between June 1 and August 31, 2009. We excluded patients with high acuity complaints, altered mental status, prisoners, those who did not speak Spanish or English, or those considered to be vulnerable. Consenting participants completed a brief demographic survey. The main outcome measures included age, gender, ethnicity, employment, housing status, insurance, access to food, and having to make choices between buying food and buying medicine. All responses were self reported. Results: 26,211 patients presented during the study; 15,732 (60%) were eligible, 8,044 (51%) were enrolled, and 7,852 (98%) were included in the analysis. The rate of patients reporting hunger significantly increased over the 3-year period [20.3% in 2007, 27.8% in 2008, and 38.3% in 2009 (p<0.001)]. The rate of patients reporting ever having to choose between food and medicine also increased [20.0% in 2007, 18.5% in 2008, and 22.6% in 2009 (p=0.006)]. Conclusion: A significant proportion of our ED patients experience food insecurity and hunger. Hunger and food insecurity have become more prevalent among patients seen in this urban county ED over the past 3 years. Emergency physicians should be aware of the increasing number of patients who must choose between obtaining food and their prescribed medications, and should consider the contribution of hunger and food insecurity to the development of health conditions for which ED treatment is sought. [
2020
Food insecurity (hereafter, FI) is an economic condition where access to nutritious food prevents individuals from leading active and healthy lives. FI is associated with poor nutrition, diet-related health conditions and adverse health outcomes. The cost to treat FI related health conditions is roughly $160 billion dollars a year. Federal, state and local food assistance programs remain underutilized because at-risk patients cannot gain access to them. Emerging research points to the unique and critical role primary care providers can play to help FI patients navigate participation barriers. What has evolved are food insecurity screening and referral initiatives in clinical settings where primary care providers act as connecters to food assistance programs. Together, a healthcare organization and food assistance program form a clinical-community partnership to address FI in low-income patient populations. Providers screen for food insecurity during routine patient visits and refer ...
Brief assessment of food insecurity accurately identifies high-risk US adults
Public Health Nutrition, 2017
ObjectiveTo facilitate the introduction of food insecurity screening into clinical settings, we examined the test performance of two-item screening questions for food insecurity against the US Department of Agriculture’s Core Food Security Module.DesignWe examined sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of various two-item combinations of questions assessing food insecurity in the general population and high-risk population subgroups.Setting2013 Current Population Survey December Supplement, a population-based US survey.SubjectsAll survey participants from the general population and high-risk subgroups.ResultsThe test characteristics of multiple two-item combinations of questions assessing food insecurity had adequate sensitivity (>97 %) and specificity (>70 %) for widespread adoption as clinical screening measures.ConclusionsWe recommend two specific items for clinical screening programmes based on their widespread current use and high sensitivity for detecting food insecurity....
The Permanente Journal, 2022
BackgroundThe American Academy of Pediatrics recommends routine screening and resource provision for food insecurity (FI). The authors describe documentation of FI, as well as social, developmental, and health care utilization characteristics, among patients with and without FI in a pediatric clinic.MethodsThis data-only case–control study describes patients with and without FI seen by pediatricians who identified at least 10 patients with FI between January 2019 and January 2020. Controls were seen by the same pediatrician on the same day, matched 2:1 with cases. Chart review identified FI documentation. Bivariate analyses were used to describe demographic, clinical, and health care utilization characteristics.ResultsThe authors identified 74 patients with FI (cases) and 144 controls. Pediatricians documented FI in the medical record for 76% of patients identified with FI, although only 43% had FI in the problem list. There were no differences between cases and controls in the distribution of age or sex. A larger proportion of cases used the emergency department (25.7% vs 9.6%; p < 0.05), were Black (36.5% vs 15.3%; p < 0.05) or Hispanic (44.6% vs 18.8%; p < 0.05), utilized Medi-Cal (41.9% vs 16.7%; p < 0.05), had developmental delay (13.5% vs 4.2%; p < 0.05), received speech therapy (20.3% vs 4.9%; p < 0.05), or were referred to a social worker (37.8% vs 3.5%; p < 0.05).DiscussionOur findings show inconsistent documentation of FI in medical records and that FI is associated with increased social, developmental, and health care utilization needs.ConclusionFurther research is needed to assess the impact of documenting FI in patient charts.
Clinical-Community Partnerships to Identify Patients With Food Insecurity and Address Food Needs
Preventing chronic disease, 2017
More than 42 million people in the United States are food insecure. Although some health care entities are addressing food insecurity among patients because of associations with disease risk and management, little is known about the components of these initiatives. The Systematic Screening and Assessment Method was used to conduct a landscape assessment of US health care entity-based programs that screen patients for food insecurity and connect them with food resources. A network of food insecurity researchers, experts, and practitioners identified 57 programs, 22 of which met the inclusion criteria of being health care entities that 1) screen patients for food insecurity, 2) link patients to food resources, and 3) target patients including adults aged 50 years or older (a focus of this assessment). Data on key features of each program were abstracted from documentation and telephone interviews. Most programs (n = 13) focus on patients with chronic disease, and most (n = 12) partner...
The Prevalence and Effects of Hunger in an Emergency Department Patient Population
Academic Emergency Medicine, 1999
Little is known about the prevalence and health effects of hunger among ED patients. The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of hunger among patients in a large urban ED and to examine whether it has adverse health effects. Methods: A survey about hunger, choices between buying food and buying medicine, and adverse health outcomes related to food adequacy over the preceding 12 months was administered to a convenience sample of adult non-critically ill ED patients from afternoon and evening shifts. The study was conducted in the ED of Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Results: Of the 302 eligible patients who were asked to participate, 297 (98%) agreed. Eighteen percent reported not having enough to eat at least once in the preceding 12 months: 14% reported that they had ''gotten sick'' as a result of not being able to afford their medicine, resulting in an ED visit or hospital admission 50% of the time. Predictors of making choices about buying food vs medicine include having a chronic health condition, lack of private health insurance, having a reduction in food stamps, having an annual income less than $10,000, and lack of alcohol use. By patient report, a reduction in food stamps was a predictor of ED visits and hospitalizations as a result of making choices about buying food over medicine. Conclusion: The ED patients in this urban setting have high rates of hunger and many must make choices between buying food and medicine, which patients report results in otherwise preventable ED visits and hospitalization. Loss or reduction of food stamps is associated with increased hunger and increased perceived adverse health outcomes as a result of not being able to afford medicine.