Food insecurity Linked With Increased Cardiovascular Disease Risk
Because of their accessibility in the community, pharmacists can help to deliver balanced and individualized services and address social determinants of health.
Food insecurity is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, according to data published in JAMA Cardiology. The authors state that addressing food insecurity and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in the United States should be studied further.1
Because of their accessibility in the community, pharmacists can help to deliver balanced and individualized services and address social determinants of health. Image Credit: C. Davids/peopleimages.com | stock.adobe.com
Food insecurity is one of the components of social determinants of health (SDOH), according to the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. SDOH refers to conditions that affect patients and are separated into 5 domains: economic stability, education access and quality, health care access and quality, neighborhood and built environment, and social and community context. SDOH contributes to health disparities and inequities, including for patients that do not have access to healthy foods. This can elevate their risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.2
The authors of the current study aimed to determine if food insecurity could be associated with an incident of cardiovascular disease and if this association varies by sex, education, or race, as prior studies were limited to cross-sectional data. Investigators conducted a prospective cohort study for adults in the US with preexisting cardiovascular disease from 2000 to August 31, 2020, in the CARDIA study. The primary outcome included cardiovascular events—including fatal and nonfatal coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke, transient ischemic attack, and peripheral arterial disease, the study authors said.1
There were 3616 individuals included in the study, with a mean age of 40.1 years, and 56% were female. Of the individuals, 47% self-reported as Black and 15% had food insecurity at baseline. The investigators found that individuals with food insecurity were more likely to report lower education and be Black. Investigators found that there were 255 events of cardiovascular disease, with 57 (11%) for those with food insecurity and 198 (6%) for those who were food secure.
When adjusting for age, sex, and field center, food insecurity was found to be associated with the incident of cardiovascular disease, and the association persisted after socioeconomic factors were adjusted for (education, marital status, and usual source of medical care). The authors concluded that food insecurity could be a clinical measure of cardiovascular disease, and further investigations should be conducted to determine if interventions alleviate the risk.1
Pharmacists play an important role in helping to mitigate SDOH. Because of their accessibility in the community, pharmacists can help to deliver balanced and individualized services—including whole-person care and addressing social needs. In a study published in Pharmacy (Basel), investigators stated that the COVID-19 “pandemic further brought awareness and attention to the community pharmacy infrastructure that was previously underrecognized in the United States.”3
Through the expanded roles pharmacists were given during the time, such as vaccination, community pharmacies were invaluable to health care and their patents. Many pharmacies are also serving as a health hub for the community, where patients can receive services, seek health information, and get counseling on disease prevention. Because of this, pharmacists can optimize their role to address the social needs of patients, which has been proven to help overall health.
The authors stated, “Capitalizing on community pharmacies’ strengths could yield cost savings from less emergency room visits and hospitalizations due to disease exacerbations triggered by adverse social factors.”3
