Self-Reported Vision Impairment and Food Insecurity in the US: National Health Interview Survey, 2011–2018

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Purpose: To determine if vision impairment (VI) is associated with food insecurity among the United States (US) adults. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of US adults ≥18 years below a threshold of 150% poverty from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), years 2011–2018. Outcome measures included food insecurity status, based on response to the NHIS adult (10-item) food insecurity tool, either as a binary (food secure or insecure) or ordinal (high, marginal, low, and very low) variable. VI was defined as self-reported trouble seeing, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses. Multivariable logistic regression analyses adjusted for potential confounders examined associations between VI and food insecurity. Results: Participants (N = 62075) were majority female (57%), White (62%), and non-Hispanic (74%). Of them, 16% reported VI and 28% were food insecure. In fully adjusted logistic regression models, adults with VI had 216% higher odds (95% CI = 2.01–2.31) of being food insecure than adults without VI. Further, there was a dose–response relationship between VI and food insecurity noted in a multinomial model: VI predicted 159% higher risk of marginal food security (95% CI = 1.44–1.75), 197% higher risk of low food security (95% CI = 1.80–2.16), and 295% higher risk of very low food security (95% CI = 2.69–3.22), as compared to high food security. Conclusion: VI is associated with food insecurity, increasingly so among adults with highest levels of food insecurity in this national sample of low-income US adults. This data highlights the need for targeted interventions to address and reduce the burden of food insecurity among US adults with VI.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)468-476
Number of pages9
JournalOphthalmic Epidemiology
Volume30
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023

Keywords

  • food insecurity
  • low income adults
  • vision impairment

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Epidemiology
  • Ophthalmology

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