Incident Food Insecurity and Associated Risk Factors After Surgical Trauma

Area of Science:

• Surgical Trauma Care
• Nutritional Science
• Public Health

Background:

• Food insecurity affects 30% globally, impacting health outcomes.
• The incidence of food insecurity in previously food-secure surgical patients is largely unknown.
• Proper nutrition is critical for surgical recovery and clinical outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify new-onset food insecurity in surgical trauma patients post-operatively.
• To identify clinical and sociodemographic risk factors associated with incident food insecurity.
• To inform targeted interventions for vulnerable surgical populations.

Main Methods:

• A multicenter, prospective, longitudinal study design.
• Inclusion of adult surgical trauma patients from public and private hospitals in India.
• Cox proportional hazards models to analyze associations with incident food insecurity over 6 months.

Main Results:

• 21% of food-secure patients developed new food insecurity post-discharge.
• Incident food insecurity linked to longer hospital stays, ICU admission, and daily wage employment.
• Hospitalization-related financial toxicity significantly increased the risk of food insecurity.

Conclusions:

• High rates of new food insecurity observed in surgical trauma patients.
• Serial assessment post-discharge is recommended.
• Utilizing identified risk factors can proactively connect high-risk patients to interventions like food prescriptions and financial aid.