Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.
Center for Advancing Population Science, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.
Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2023 Mar 8;21(1):21. doi: 10.1186/s12955-023-02103-3.
Food insecurity is associated with worse general health rating, but little research exists investigating whether there is a dose response relationship across levels of food security and mental and physical health domains at the population level.
Data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2016-2017) with US adults aged 18 years and older was used. The physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) of Quality of Life, served as the outcome measures. Four categories of food insecurity (high, marginal, low, very low food security) served as the primary independent variable. Linear regression was used to run unadjusted followed by adjusted models. Separate models were run for PCS and MCS.
In a sample of US adults, 16.1% reported some degree of food insecurity. For PCS, marginal (β = - 2.54 (p < 0.001), low (β = - 3.41, (p < 0.001), and very low (β = - 5.62, (p < 0.001) food security was associated with worse PCS scores, compared to adults with high food security. For MCS, marginal (β = - 3.90 (p < 0.001), low (β = - 4.79, (p < 0.001), and very low (β = - 9.72, (p < 0.001) food security was associated with worse MCS scores, compared to adults with high food security.
Increasing levels of food insecurity were associated with decreased physical and mental health quality of life scores. This relationship was not explained by demographic factors, socioeconomic factors, insurance, or comorbidity burden. This study suggests work is needed to mitigate the impact of social risk, such as food insecurity, on quality of life in adults, and understand pathways and mechanisms for this relationship.
食物不安全与整体健康状况较差有关，但在人群水平上，关于食物安全程度与心理和身体健康领域之间是否存在剂量反应关系的研究甚少。
使用了美国成年人（18 岁及以上）的医疗支出调查（2016-2017 年）的数据。生活质量的身体成分评分（PCS）和心理成分评分（MCS）作为结果测量指标。食物不安全的四个类别（高、边缘、低、极低食物安全）作为主要自变量。使用线性回归进行未调整和调整后的模型。为 PCS 和 MCS 分别运行单独的模型。
在一项美国成年人样本中，有 16.1%的人报告存在某种程度的食物不安全。对于 PCS，边缘（β=-2.54（p<0.001）、低（β=-3.41（p<0.001）和极低（β=-5.62（p<0.001）食物安全与 PCS 评分较差相关，与食物安全程度高的成年人相比。对于 MCS，边缘（β=-3.90（p<0.001）、低（β=-4.79（p<0.001）和极低（β=-9.72（p<0.001）食物安全与 MCS 评分较差相关，与食物安全程度高的成年人相比。
食物不安全程度的增加与身体和心理健康生活质量评分的降低有关。这种关系不能用人口统计学因素、社会经济因素、保险或合并症负担来解释。本研究表明，需要开展工作来减轻社会风险（如食物不安全）对成年人生活质量的影响，并了解这种关系的途径和机制。
