(P02-031-23) The Impact of Food Security in Patients With Celiac Disease and Its Association With the Frequency of Healthcare Utilization: A Secondary Analysis

Objectives: The primary objective of this study was to identify the degree to which food security among patients with celiac disease reduced the likelihood of healthcare utilization.

Methods: Datasets were obtained from the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from years 2009 to 2016. Using Stata, the celiac disease data set was used to estimate odds ratios of the disease via linear regression.Two-way ANOVA was used to determine associations between celiac disease and food security on hospital utilization, celiac disease and hospital utilization, and food security and hospital utilization. A p-value < 0.05 indicated a statistically significant relationship among the variables.

Results: Eight-thousand seventy-five individuals were included in the analysis.  There were no statistically significant odds seen with increased healthcare utilization in individuals with celiac disease, OR 0.95 (CI 0.72 to 1.26, p < 0.05), but there was a lower odds of healthcare utilization observed with food security, OR 0.83 (CI 0.78 to 0.88, p < 0.05). However, using two-way ANOVA there was no statistically significant effects of food security on hospital utilization (F = 0.08, df = 3, 11, p < 0.05). There also was no combined statistically significant effects of celiac disease and food security on hospital utilization (F = 0.10, df = 5, 11, p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Having celiac disease did not show an increased odds for healthcare utilization. While food security did show some protective effect, it overall was not statistically significant to demonstrate a positive impact. Further studies are needed to assess the degree to which health literacy among food secure patients with celiac disease affects the odds of healthcare utilization.

Funding Sources: No funding sources to disclose