Background

Latinos from agricultural communities have a high prevalence of food insecurity and are at increased risk of obesity and diabetes, yet little is known about the associations between food insecurity and diabetes outcomes.

Objective

To examine the associations between food insecurity and diabetes outcomes among rural Latinos.

Methods

Cross-sectional survey with medical chart abstraction of 250 Latinos with diabetes. Primary outcomes are the control of 3 intermediate diabetes outcomes (hemoglobin A1C ≤8.0%, LDL-cholesterol ≤100 mg/dL, and blood pressure ≤140/90 mm Hg), a composite of control of the 3, and receipt of 6 processes of care. Secondary outcomes are cost-related medication underuse and participation in self-care activities.

Results

Fifty-two percent of patients reported food insecurity and 1-in-4 reported cost-related medication underuse. Patients with food insecurity were more likely to report cost-related medication underuse [adjusted odds ratio (AOR)=2.49; 95% confidence intervals (CI), 1.30, 4.98; P=0.003], less likely to meet the composite measure for control of the 3 intermediate outcomes (AOR=0.24; 95% CI, 0.07, 0.84; P<0.05), and less likely to receive a dilated eye examination (AOR=0.37; 95% CI, 0.18, 0.77; P<0.05) and annual foot examinations (AOR=0.42; 95% CI, 0.20, 0.84; P<0.05) compared with those who were food secure.

Conclusions

Among this rural Latino population, food insecurity was independently associated with not having control of the intermediate diabetes outcomes captured in the composite measure, not receiving dilated eye and foot examinations, and with self-reporting cost-related medication underuse.