Unmet Medical Needs Among Adults Who Move due to Unaffordable Housing: California Health Interview Survey, 2011-2017.
J Gen Intern Med
; 36(8): 2259-2266, 2021 08.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33372238
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Stable, affordable housing is an established determinant of health. As affordable housing shortages across the USA threaten to displace people from their homes, it is important to understand the implications of cost-related residential moves for healthcare access.OBJECTIVE:
To examine the relationship between cost-related moves and unmet medical needs.DESIGN:
We performed a cross-sectional analysis of 7 waves (2011-2017) of the California Health Interview Survey.PARTICIPANTS:
We included all respondents ages 18 and older. MAINMEASURES:
The primary predictor variable was residential move history in the past 5 years (cost-related move, non-cost-related move, or no move). The primary outcome was unmet medical needs in the past year (necessary medications and/or medical care that were delayed or not received). KEYRESULTS:
Our sample included 146,417 adults (42-47% response rate), representing a weighted population of 28,518,590. Overall, 20.3% of the sample reported unmet medical needs in the past year, and 4.9% reported a cost-related move in the past 5 years. In multivariable logistic regression models, adjusted risk of unmet medical needs increased for adults with both cost-related moves (aOR 1.38; 95% CI 1.19-1.59) and non-cost-related moves (aOR 1.17; 95% CI 1.09-1.26) compared to those with no moves. Among people who had moved, those with cost-related moves were more likely to report unmet medical needs compared to people with non-cost-related moves (p = 0.03).CONCLUSIONS:
People who have moved due to unaffordable housing represent a population at increased risk for unmet medical needs. Policy makers seeking to improve population health should consider strategies to limit cost-related moves and to mitigate their adverse effects on healthcare access.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Health Services Accessibility
/
Housing
Type of study:
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Aspects:
Determinantes_sociais_saude
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
J Gen Intern Med
Journal subject:
MEDICINA INTERNA
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country: