PD367 - EXAMINING THE BURDEN OF FOOD INSECURITY AND OTHER SOCIAL NEEDS IN THE CONTEXT OF GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE

PD367

EXAMINING THE BURDEN OF FOOD INSECURITY AND OTHER SOCIAL NEEDS IN THE CONTEXT OF GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASE

K. Al-Muhanna^1,2,*, D. Goldman³, H. Rhoades³, A. Darragh⁴, K. M. Roberts^3,5, S. Chakraborty⁵, J. A. Garner⁶

¹Department of Clinical Nutrition, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, ²King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, ³Division of Medical Dietetics, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, ⁴College of Health Professions, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, ⁵Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, ⁶Department of Nutritional Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, United States

Rationale: Food insecurity (FI) remains poorly characterized in patients with Gastrointestinal (GI) disease. This exploratory study describes the burden of FI, its relationship with other health-related social needs (HRSN), and its association with GI symptoms.

Methods: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, initial visit data were extracted from electronic medical records of 360 patients seen at a specialized GI motility clinic between January and December of 2022. Data included demographics, responses to the American Academy of Family Physicians Social Needs Screening Tool (SNST), and clinically-relevant GI symptoms assessed using the Rome IV Diagnostic Questionnaire (R4DQ). Only patients with available SNST and R4DQ data from the initial encounter were included. Binary logistic regression with modified forward-backward elimination was used to evaluate associations between FI risk and other social needs, and between FI risk and GI symptoms.

Results: The sample (n=190) was predominantly white (82%) and female (67%), with a median age of 47 years (IQR: 27). One-third (n=58) screened positive for ≥1 social need; FI risk was the second most common (14%, n=26), and all patients with FI risk reported ≥1additional need. Housing (p=.040), transportation (p=.006), and financial needs (p<.001) predicted FI risk. Patients with esophageal symptoms had nearly fourfold higher odds of FI risk (OR: 3.81; 95% CI: 1.27–11.40; p=0.017), while those with gastroduodenal symptoms had over fivefold higher odds of FI risk (OR: 5.69; 95% CI: 1.96–16.51; p=0.001).

Conclusion: These findings highlight a high burden of FI and related social needs among patients with GI disease in this sample, underscoring the importance of studying relationships between FI and GI symptom profiles via more robust studies to inform social needs screening and targeted interventions in specialty care settings.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared