Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

LIVE: Thursday 27th June 2024, 18:00-19:30 (CEST)
Join our expert panel to discover why you need to understand the drivers of non-adherence in your patients, and how you can optimize medication adherence in your clinics to drastically improve patient outcomes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Supportive Care in Cancer
Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer 12/2021

01-12-2021 | Original Article

The association between housing and food insecurity among medically underserved cancer patients

Authors: Francesca Gany, Irina Melnic, Julia Ramirez, Minlun Wu, Yuelin Li, Luke Paolantonio, Nicole Roberts-Eversley, Victoria Blinder, Jennifer Leng

Published in: Supportive Care in Cancer | Issue 12/2021

Login to get access

Abstract

Purpose

To assess the prevalence of socioeconomic needs and associations between housing characteristics and food insecurity among low-income cancer patients, among whom housing and food insecurity are particularly prevalent.

Methods

Low-income cancer patients in active treatment (N = 1618) were enrolled in a comprehensive patient navigation program. Food insecurity was assessed using the 18-item US Department of Agriculture US Household Food Security Survey Module. Participants self-reported their need for assistance with housing issues/type of assistance needed, perception of overcrowding, satisfaction with living situation, and household density via a cross-sectional survey. Descriptive analyses, cross-tabulations and tests of proportions, and binary logistic regression were used in data analyses.

Results

Seventy percent of patients were food insecure. Housing characteristics associated with food insecurity were homelessness or living in sheltered/supportive housing (83.3% food insecure), renting (71.9%), and homeownership (58.1%; p < .001); living situation satisfaction (not satisfied, 79.4%; somewhat satisfied, 25.6%; very satisfied, 66%; p < .001); need of housing assistance (79.2%; p < .001), and feeling crowded in their living unit (77.6%; p < .05). Associations of living unit type with food insecurity were significant in the binary logistic regression model (renters 1.68 OR, homeless/sheltered housing 2.80 OR vs homeowners).

Conclusion

The vulnerability to food insecurity of patients in this low-income sample was underlined by the high rates found, and clear associations with housing characteristics of homelessness, housing assistance needs, and feeling overcrowded were identified. These results could help shape priorities around screening patients for nutrition and housing needs and developing interventions to address them.
Literature
1.
Gery P, Guy J, Ekwueme DU, Yabroff KR, Dowling EC, Li C, Rodriguez JL, Moor JSd, Virgo KS (2013) Economic burden of cancer survivorship among adults in the United States. J Clin Oncol 31:3749–3757CrossRef
2.
Phillips S, Raskin SE, Harrington CB, Brazinskaite R, Gany FM (2019) “You have to keep a roof over your head”: a qualitative study of housing needs among patients with cancer in New York City. J Oncol Pract 15:e677–e689CrossRef
3.
Stein L (1950) A study of respiratory tuberculosis in relation to housing conditions in Edinburgh: I.—The Pre-War Period. Br J Soc Med 4:143–169PubMedPubMedCentral
4.
Zolopa AR, Hahn JA, Gorter R, Miranda J, Wlodarczyk D, Peterson J, Pilote L, Moss AR (1994) HIV and tuberculosis infection in San Francisco’s homeless adults. Prevalence and risk factors in a representative sample. JAMA 272:455–461CrossRef
5.
Vaughan JW, Platts-Mills TAE (2000) New approaches to environmental control. Clin Rev Allergy Immunol 18:325–339CrossRef
6.
Roberts JW, Dickey P (1995) Exposure of children to pollutants in house dust and indoor air. Rev Environ Contam Toxicol 143:59–78PubMed
7.
8.
9.
Furness BW, Simon PA, Wold CM, Asarian-Anderson J (2004) Prevalence and predictors of food insecurity among low-income households in Los Angeles County. Pub Health Nutr 7:791–794CrossRef
10.
11.
Cutts DB, Meyers AF, Black MM, Casey PH, Chilton M, Cook JT, Geppert J, Ettinger de Cuba S, Heeren T, Coleman S, Rose-Jacobs R, Frank DA (2011) US housing insecurity and the health of very young children. Am J Pub Health 101:1508–1514CrossRef
12.
Lepore SJ, Evans GW, Schneider ML (1991) Dynamic role of social support in the link between chronic stress and psychological distress. J Pers Soc Psychol 61:899–909CrossRef
13.
Evans GW, Lepore SJ, Shejwal BR, Palsane MN (1998) Chronic residential crowding and children’s well-being: an ecological perspective. Child Dev 69:1514–1523CrossRef
14.
Kushel MB, Gupta R, Gee L, Haas JS (2006) Housing instability and food insecurity as barriers to health care among low-income Americans. J Gen Intern Med 21:71–77CrossRef
15.
Gany F, Leng J, Ramirez J, Phillips S, Aragones A, Roberts N, Mujawar MI, Costas-Muniz R (2015) Health-related quality of life of food-insecure ethnic minority patients with cancer. J Oncol Pract 11:396–402CrossRef
16.
Sullivan AF, Clark S, Pallin DJ, Camargo CA Jr (2010) Food security, health, and medication expenditures of emergency department patients. J Emerg Med 38:524–528CrossRef
17.
Bengle R, Sinnett S, Johnson T, Johnson MA, Brown A, Lee JS (2010) Food insecurity is associated with cost-related medication non-adherence in community-dwelling, low-income older adults in Georgia. J Nutr Elder 29:170–191CrossRef
18.
Simmons LA, Modesitt SC, Brody AC, Leggin AB (2006) Food insecurity among cancer patients in kentucky: a pilot study. J Oncol Pract 2:274–279CrossRef
19.
Whitaker RC, Phillips SM, Orzol SM (2006) Food insecurity and the risks of depression and anxiety in mothers and behavior problems in their preschool-aged children. Pediatrics 118:e859CrossRef
20.
Seligman HK, Bindman AB, Vittinghoff E, Kanaya AM, Kushel MB (2007) Food insecurity is associated with diabetes mellitus: results from the National Health Examination and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 1999–2002. J Gen Intern Med 22:1018–1023CrossRef
21.
Stuff JE, Casey PH, Szeto KL, Gossett JM, Robbins JM, Simpson PM, Connell C, Bogle ML (2004) Household food insecurity is associated with adult health status. J Nutr 134:2330–2335CrossRef
22.
Young S, Wheeler AC, McCoy SI, Weiser SD (2014) A review of the role of food insecurity in adherence to care and treatment among adult and pediatric populations living with HIV and AIDS. AIDS Behav 18(Suppl 5):S505–S515CrossRef
23.
Braveman P, Gottlieb L (2014) The social determinants of health: it’s time to consider the causes of the causes. Public Health Rep 129(Suppl 2):19–31CrossRef
24.
Laraia BA, Leak TM, Tester JM, Leung CW (2017) Biobehavioral factors that shape nutrition in low-income populations: a narrative review. Am J Prev Med 52:S118–S126CrossRef
25.
Gany F, Ramirez J, Nierodzick ML, McNish T, Lobach I, Leng J (2011) Cancer portal project: a multidisciplinary approach to cancer care among Hispanic patients. J Oncol Pract 7:31–38CrossRef
26.
27.
28.
Peduzzi P, Concato J, Kemper E, Holford TR, Feinstein AR (1996) A simulation study of the number of events per variable in logistic regression analysis. J Clin Epidemiol 49:1373–1379CrossRef
29.
30.
IBM Corp (2016) IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 24.0. IBM Corp, Armonk, NY
31.
32.
33.
34.
Louis-Jean J, Cenat K, Njoku CV, Angelo J, Sanon D (2020) Coronavirus (COVID-19) and racial disparities: a perspective analysis. J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 7:1039–1045CrossRef
35.
Bowen EA, Bowen SK, Barman-Adhikari A (2016) Prevalence and covariates of food insecurity among residents of single-room occupancy housing in Chicago, IL, USA. Public Health Nutr 19:1122–1130CrossRef
36.
Sano Y, Garasky S, Greder KA, Cook CC, Browder DE (2011) Understanding food insecurity among Latino immigrant families in rural America. J Fam Econ Issues 32:111–123CrossRef
37.
38.
39.
Chokshi DA (2018) Income, poverty, and health inequality. JAMA 319:1312–1313CrossRef
40.
41.
Freund KM, Battaglia TA, Calhoun E, Dudley DJ, Fiscella K, Paskett E, Raich PC, Roetzheim RG (2008) National cancer institute patient navigation research program: methods, protocol, and measures. Cancer 113:3391–3399CrossRef
42.
43.
44.
45.
Schroeder K, Smaldone A (2015) Food insecurity: a concept analysis. Nurs Forum 50:274–284CrossRef
46.
Blewett LA, Owen RA (2015) Accountable care for the poor and underserved: Minnesota’s Hennepin Health model. Am J Public Health 105:622–624CrossRef
47.
Sandberg SF, Erikson C, Owen R, Vickery KD, Shimotsu ST, Linzer M, Garrett NA, Johnsrud KA, Soderlund DM, DeCubellis J (2014) Hennepin Health: a safety-net accountable care organization for the expanded Medicaid population. Health Aff (Millwood) 33:1975–1984CrossRef
48.
Gusmano MK, Thompson FJ (2015) An examination of Medicaid delivery system reform incentive payment initiatives under way in six states. Health Aff (Millwood) 34:1162–1169CrossRef
Metadata
Title
The association between housing and food insecurity among medically underserved cancer patients
Authors
Francesca Gany
Irina Melnic
Julia Ramirez
Minlun Wu
Yuelin Li
Luke Paolantonio
Nicole Roberts-Eversley
Victoria Blinder
Jennifer Leng
Publication date
01-12-2021
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Supportive Care in Cancer / Issue 12/2021
Print ISSN: 0941-4355
Electronic ISSN: 1433-7339
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-021-06254-1

Other articles of this Issue 12/2021

Supportive Care in Cancer 12/2021 Go to the issue

Original Article

Bone turnover markers can predict healing time in medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw

Original Article

Multidisciplinary lifestyle modification program (IM-FIT) for cancer survivors: implementation of a reimbursable model in a cancer hospital

Editorial

The application of “Omics” to accelerate precision medicine in Supportive Care in Cancer

Original Article

The effectiveness of an oral health education and prevention program on the incidence and severity of oral mucositis in pediatric cancer patients: a non-randomized controlled study

Original Article

Applying the thresholds for clinical importance for fourteen key domains of the EORTC QLQ-C30: a latent class analysis of cancer survivors

Original Article

Unplanned emergency department visits and hospital admissions of older adults under treatment for cancer in the ambulatory/community setting
Webinar | 19-02-2024 | 17:30 (CET)

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on antibody–drug conjugates in cancer

Watch now

Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are novel agents that have shown promise across multiple tumor types. Explore the current landscape of ADCs in breast and lung cancer with our experts, and gain insights into the mechanism of action, key clinical trials data, existing challenges, and future directions.

Dr. Véronique Diéras
Prof. Fabrice Barlesi
Developed by: Springer Medicine
Image Credits