Abstract
Background: Food insecurity is a common health problem in both developing and developed countries and is associated with various chronic diseases such as hyperlipidemia, heart disease, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome. This study aimed to investigate the demographic and nutritional factors influencing food insecurity among individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
Methods: The current cross-sectional study included 647 patients from outpatient clinics at Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. Among them, 275 patients had T2DM, and 310 patients had CAD. Demographic data, including age, gender, employment status, household size, household income, and education, were collected by a questionnaire. Anthropometric assessments were carried out, and food insecurity was investigated using a validated questionnaire. Moreover, a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used for dietary assessment. Statistical assays were performed using SPSS 16 software.
Results: The total prevalence of low food security among patients with T2DM and CAD was 69.81% and 32.58% respectively. The corresponding values for very low food insecurity were 19.27% and 36.45%, respectively. Among the CAD group, food-insecure patients were more likely to be male and belonged to low-income families (P<0.05). Moreover, 81.2% of food-insecure patients had low educational attainments compared to 57.5% of food-secure patients (P<0.001). Furthermore, stepwise multivariate linear regression analysis revealed that being male gender was a potent predictor of food insecurity among CAD patients. Higher body mass index (BMI) and higher income had protective roles against food insecurity in these patients. Additionally, no differences were found in demographic or anthropometric parameters among patients with diabetes.
Conclusion: The current study indicated the role of age, gender, income, and education in developing food insecurity in patients with cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, none of these parameters were determinants of food insecurity in our sample of diabetic patients. Further studies are needed to confirm these results.