Food Insecurity and Health Outcomes Among Older Adults: The Role of Cost-Related Medication Underuse.
The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between food security and cost-related medication underuse among older adults (persons aged 65 years and older) in the United States; and to determine if this relationship differs by sex, chronic disease status, and type of health insurance. Data are from a combined sample of older adults in the 2011 and 2012 National Health Interview Survey (N = 10,401). Both bivariate and multivariate analyses show a dose-response relationship between food insecurity and cost-related medication underuse among the elderly--increasing likelihood of cost-related medication underuse with increasing severity of food insecurity (P < 0.001). This association is not conditional on sex, chronic disease status, or type of health insurance. However, females and those with a chronic condition are more likely to report cost-related medication underuse than males and those without a chronic condition respectively; and older adults with Medicare and Medicaid or other public insurance are less likely to report cost-related medication underuse than older adults with only Medicare.
a Community Health Sciences , UCLA Fielding School of Public Health , Los Angeles , California , USA.
Patience
P
Afulani
Dena
D
Herman
Alisha
A
Coleman-Jensen
Gail G
GG
Harrison
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology; D017046:Cost Savings; D017281:Cost of Illness; D016527:Drug Costs; D005260:Female; D005523:Food Supply / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000191:economics*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D014481:United States; D016903:Drug Monitoring
D055553:Prescription Drugs
elderly; food insecurity; food security; health care; health outcomes