ArticleBMC research notes2023
Clinical outcomes of a large-scale, partnership-based regional food prescription program: results of a quasi-experimental study.
Article in BMC research notes, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Feasibility and Effects of a Produce Prescription Program (PRx) in People With Type 2 Diabetes and Low Socioeconomic Status: A Randomised Controlled Pilot Trial.Diabetes, obesity & metabolism · 2026Trial
- Nutrition and Culinary Education in Food Is Medicine Interventions: A Scoping Review.Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics · 2026Article
- Nutrition Security Among Medicaid Patients With Diabetes or Prediabetes After Completing a Produce Prescription Program.Annals of family medicine · 2026Observational
- 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
- Article
- Current State of Food Prescriptions Used to Treat Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in the US Adult Population.Cureus · 2024Review
- Geospatial Determinants of Food Pantry Access in the Mid-Ohio Farmacy Program.Preventing chronic disease · 2023Article
- Perspective: Teaching Kitchens: Conceptual Origins, Applications and Potential for Impact within Food Is Medicine Research.Nutrients · 2023Review
- Diet and Food and Nutrition Insecurity and Cardiometabolic Disease.Circulation research · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFood prescription programs are gaining interest from funders, policy makers, and healthcare payers as a way to provide value-based care. A small body of research suggests that such programs effectively impact health outcomes; however, the quality of existing studies is variable, and most studies use small samples. This study attempts to address these gaps by utilizing a quasi-experimental design with non-equivalent controls, to evaluate clinical outcomes among participants enrolled in a food prescription program implemented at scale.
methodsWe completed a secondary analysis of participant enrollment and utilization data collected between May 2018 and March 2021, by the Houston Food Bank as part of its multi-institution food prescription program. Enrollment data was obtained from 16 health care partners and redemption data from across 40 food pantries in Houston, Texas. Our objective was to assess if program participation impacted multiple cardio-metabolic markers. Exposure was defined as any visit to a food pantry after receipt of prescription. Linear and logistic regression models were used to estimate change in outcomes by exposure status and number of food pantry visits.
resultsExposed patients experienced a -0.28% (p = 0.007) greater change in HbA1c than unexposed patients, over six months. Differences across exposure categories were seen with systolic blood pressure (-3.2, p < 0.001) and diastolic blood pressure (-2.5, p = 0.028), over four months. The odds of any decline in HbA1c (OR = 1.06 per visit, p < 0.001) and clinically meaningful decline in HbA1c (OR = 1.04 per visit, p = 0.007) showed a linear association with visit frequency.
conclusionsOur study of a large food prescription program involving multiple health care and food pantry sites provides robust evidence of a modest decline in HbA1c levels among participants. These results confirm that food prescription programs can continue to be effective at scale, and portend well for institutionalization of such programs.
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