Food Insecurity Is High in a Multi-Site Cohort of Transgender Women Vulnerable to or Living with HIV in the Eastern and Southern United States: Baseline Findings from the LITE Cohort
Dougie Zubizarreta,
Andrea L. Wirtz,
Elizabeth Humes,
Erin E. Cooney,
Meg Stevenson,
Keri N. Althoff,
Asa E. Radix,
Tonia Poteat,
Chris Beyrer,
Andrew J. Wawrzyniak,
Kenneth H. Mayer,
Sari L. Reisner
Affiliations
Dougie Zubizarreta
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA
Andrea L. Wirtz
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Elizabeth Humes
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Erin E. Cooney
Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Meg Stevenson
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Keri N. Althoff
Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
Asa E. Radix
Callen-Lorde Community Health Center, New York, NY 10011, USA
Tonia Poteat
Division of Healthcare in Adult Populations, School of Nursing, Duke University, Durham, NC 27710, USA
Chris Beyrer
Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
Andrew J. Wawrzyniak
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL 33136, USA
Kenneth H. Mayer
The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Sari L. Reisner
The Fenway Institute, Fenway Health, Boston, MA 02215, USA
The prevalence and correlates of food insecurity—the unavailability of food and limited access to it—have not been adequately considered among transgender women (TW), particularly alongside other health-related conditions burdening this population, such as HIV infection. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among TW. Between 2018 and 2020, 1590 TW in the Eastern and Southern U.S. completed a multi-site baseline assessment (socio-behavioral survey and HIV testing). Descriptive statistics were calculated and multivariable Poisson models with robust error variance were used to estimate prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals for correlates of food insecurity (dichotomized as sometimes-to-always vs. seldom-to-never running out of food). Eighteen percent of TW were living with HIV and nearly half of participants (44%) reported food insecurity. Correlates of food insecurity included being Black, multiracial, or another race/ethnicity; having p < 0.05). Food insecurity was highly prevalent among TW. Current programs to provide food support do not adequately meet the needs of TW. HIV pr evention and care programs may benefit from addressing food insecurity.