204 Patients without health insurance and experiencing food insecurity are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression–a cross-sectional study at a Milwaukee student-run free clinic

Abstract

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: At the Saturday Clinic for the Uninsured (SCU), a Milwaukee student-run free clinic affiliated with the Medical College of Wisconsin, we screened patients for food insecurity and evaluated associations of food security status with nine separate social determinants of health (SDOH) needs and eight chronic medical conditions influenced by diet. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: This cross-sectional study took place from October 2021-April 2022 at SCU, which only sees uninsured patients. We added the USDA six-item food insecurity form to the clinic’s larger SDOH survey, which screens for medication financing, housing stability, energy assistance, legal issues, educational/work opportunities, substance use, mental health, health insurance options, and dental care needs. We then completed chart review for demographic, diagnostic, lab, and medication information pertaining to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease (CKD), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), anxiety, and depression. We conducted descriptive statistics on demographics and measured associations using both Kendall’s tau correlation and odds ratios from binomial regression. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Of the 157 patients seen during this time, most were middle-aged (mean age = 49.4 years ± 14.5 years), female (n = 98, 62.4%), Black or African American (n = 66, 42%) and resided in Milwaukee County (n = 144, 92.9%). 22 (16%) screened as food insecure and had greater odds and positively correlated with needing resources for medication financing (OR = 7.28, I2 = 0.33), housing (OR = 129.99, I2 = 0.28), energy assistance (OR = 3.94,I2= 0.2), mental health (OR = 4.54, I2= 0.28), insurance (OR = 2.86, I2= 0.18), and dental care (OR=3.65,I2= 0.28), but not legal concerns, education/work opportunities, or substance use. Food insecure patients had higher odds and positively correlated with having anxiety (OR = 3.26,I2= 0.23) or depression (OR = 2.88,I2= 0.19), but not obesity, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, CKD, or GERD. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Patients without health insurance and experiencing food insecurity were more likely to have multiple SDOH needs and mental health diagnoses. Risk factors separate from food security status may explain associations with other chronic medical conditions, including uninsured status, socioeconomic status, eating behaviors, or food accessibility.