Address Changes Are Associated With Unmet Glycemic Targets: Opportunities to Improve Processes and Outcomes of Care...

Introduction The objective of this study was to identify and operationalize measures of potential housing insecurity within existing electronic health record data and to quantify the association between address changes and diabetes management goals among patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort study to measure potential housing insecurity in electronic health record data by quantifying the number of address changes in 2018. We considered at least one address change as a potential marker for housing insecurity. We used multivariable modified Poisson regressions to analyze the association between address change and clinical, utilization and preventive care outcomes while adjusting for patient and health system factors. Results We identified 274,123 adults with type 2 diabetes who were members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California in 2018 and 6% (N = 17,317) had at least one address change during 2018. In multivariate analyses, we found that one or more address changes was associated with greater chance of hemoglobin A1C < 9 (ARR: 1.12, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.15), lower chance of hemoglobin A1C < 8 (ARR: 0.95, 95% CI; 0.94, 0.96), lower chance of controlled blood pressure (ARR: 0.99, 95% CI: 0.98-0.99), greater chance of emergency department visits (ARR: 1.25, 95% CI: 1.23, 1.27), and lower chance of having a flu shot (ARR: 0.94, 95% CI: 0.93, 0.95) when compared to no address change. Discussion Changes in address are associated with worse diabetes management outcomes. Conclusion Identifying patients with potential housing insecurity and providing resources aimed at continuity of care and stable health care access could improve diabetes management for vulnerable populations.