ArticleThe western journal of emergency medicine2021
Cross-sectional Analysis of Food Insecurity and Frequent Emergency Department Use.
Article in The western journal of emergency medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed.
- Strengthening Emergency Department Health Initiatives Through Partnership With Health Departments and Community Organizations.Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians open · 2026Article
- Food insecurity and acute care utilisation: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Implementing a screening protocol for food insecure patients within a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH): A community health needs assessment (CHNA).Nutrition in clinical practice : official publication of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition · 2025Article
- Association of Social Needs with Diabetes Outcomes in an Older Population.Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine : JABFM · 2025Article
- The relationship between food and housing insecurity and healthcare use among Virginia Medicaid expansion members: Considering the neighborhood context.Health services research · 2025Article
- The realities of data derived from electronic health records to evaluate health outcomes, utilization, and cost of produce prescription programs: A multiple case study evaluation.Journal of public health research · 2025Article
- Feasibility of an Emergency Department-based Food Insecurity Screening and Referral Program.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Observational
- Relationship Between Social Risk Factors and Emergency Department Use: National Health Interview Survey 2016-2018.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- Emergency Department Food Insecurity Screening, Food Voucher Distribution and Utilization: A Prospective Cohort Study.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2024Article
- Inpatient screening for social determinants of health: A quality improvement initiative.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2024Article
- Diet and Food and Nutrition Insecurity and Cardiometabolic Disease.Circulation research · 2023Review
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Food Insecurity in an Urban Emergency Department Patient Population.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2023Observational
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionEmergency department (ED) patients have higher than average levels of food insecurity. We examined the association between multiple measures of food insecurity and frequent ED use in a random sample of ED patients.
methodsWe completed survey questionnaires with randomly sampled adult patients from an urban public hospital ED (n = 2,312). We assessed food insecurity using four questions from the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security Survey. The primary independent variable was any food insecurity, defined as an affirmative response to any of the four items. Frequent ED use was defined as self-report of ≥4 ED visits in the past year. We examined the relationship between patient food insecurity and frequent ED use using bivariate and multivariable analyses and examined possible mediation by anxiety/depression and overall health status.
resultsOne-third (30.9%) of study participants reported frequent ED use, and half (50.8%) reported any food insecurity. Prevalence of food insecurity was higher among frequent vs. non-frequent ED users, 62.8% vs 45.4% (P <0.001). After controlling for potential confounders, food insecurity remained significantly associated with frequent ED use (adjusted odds ratio 1.48, 95% confidence interval, 1.20-1.83). This observed association was partially attenuated when anxiety/depression and overall health status were added to models.
conclusionThe high observed prevalence of food insecurity suggests that efforts to improve care of ED patients should assess and address this need. Further research is needed to assess whether addressing food insecurity may play an important role in efforts to reduce frequent ED use for some patients.
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