title: Use of Hospital-Based Food Pantries Among Low-Income Urban Cancer Patients.
abstract: To examine uptake of a novel emergency food system at five cancer clinics in New York City, hospital-based food pantries, and predictors of use, among low-income urban cancer patients. This is a nested cohort study of 351 patients who first visited the food pantries between October 3, 2011 and January 1, 2013. The main outcome was continued uptake of this food pantry intervention. Generalized estimating equation (GEE) statistical analysis was conducted to model predictors of pantry visit frequency. The median number of return visits in the 4 month period after a patient's initial visit was 2 and the mean was 3.25 (SD 3.07). The GEE model showed that younger patients used the pantry less, immigrant patients used the pantry more (than US-born), and prostate cancer and Stage IV cancer patients used the pantry more. Future long-term larger scale studies are needed to further assess the utilization, as well as the impact of food assistance programs such as the this one, on nutritional outcomes, cancer outcomes, comorbidities, and quality of life. Cancer patients most at risk should be taken into particular consideration.
authors.affiliation: Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.|Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, 485 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA.|Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gany
authors.affiliation: Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Trevor
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Loeb
authors.affiliation: Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramirez
authors.affiliation: New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Alyssa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moran
authors.affiliation: New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Crist
authors.affiliation: Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Thelma
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: McNish
authors.affiliation: Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. lengj@mskcc.org.|Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. lengj@mskcc.org.|Department of Healthcare Policy and Research, Weill Cornell Medical College, 485 Lexington Avenue, 2nd Floor, New York, NY, 10017, USA. lengj@mskcc.org.
authors.forename: Jennifer C F
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Leng
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002173:Cancer Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D054242:Emigrants and Immigrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D063105:Food Assistance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005523:Food Supply / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009519:New York City; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Cancer patients; Food assistance programs; Food pantries; Low-income