Table 1.
Hunger Category by adverse economic event adjusted for food pantry and covariates, food pantry users in 10 food pantries in eastern Massachusetts, June 2018 – August 2018, n = 616.
| Moderate hungera, n = 124 | Severe hungera, n = 121 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odds ratio (95% CI) | p-valueb | Odds ratio (95% CI) | p-valueb | |
| Experience of adverse economic eventc | ||||
| No | Ref | Ref | ||
| Yes | 2.03 (1.07, 3.85) | 0.03 | 5.39 (2.78, 10.48) | <0.0001 |
| Number of adverse economic eventsd | ||||
| 0 | Ref | Ref | ||
| 1 | 1.20 (0.83, 1.74) | 0.33 | 0.74 (0.52, 1.06) | 0.10 |
| 2+ | 2.09 (1.11, 3.92) | 0.02 | 4.16 (2.39, 7.26) | <0.0001 |
| Type of adverse economic eventse | ||||
| Death of a family member | 1.59 (0.75, 3.37) | 0.23 | 2.43 (1.21, 4.90) | 0.01 |
| Divorce | 1.31 (0.61, 2.83) | 0.49 | 0.38 (0.02, 8.75) | 0.55 |
| Pay reduction | 1.87 (1.12, 3.14) | 0.02 | 2.95 (1.24, 7.04) | 0.01 |
| Legal expenses | 0.21 (0.03, 1.67) | 0.14 | 1.28 (0.66, 2.49) | 0.46 |
| Debt | 2.71 (1.92, 3.84) | <0.0001 | 3.46 (1.98, 6.04) | <0.0001 |
| Job loss | 1.34 (0.80, 2.25) | 0.26 | 1.77 (0.83, 3.79) | 0.14 |
| Home-related expenses | 1.01 (0.34, 2.98) | 0.9863 | 1.77 (0.60, 5.26) | 0.3020 |
| Eviction | 4.19 (0.95, 18.50) | 0.0587 | 4.19 (0.78, 22.51) | 0.0947 |
| Medical expenses | 1.48 (0.75, 2.91) | 0.2529 | 1.84 (0.84, 4.00) | 0.1252 |
| Other | 1.56 (1.07, 2.27) | 0.0218 | 1.64 (0.99, 2.72) | 0.0541 |
Hunger categories were defined as little to no hunger in the household (HHS score = 0–1), moderate hunger in the household (HHS score = 2–3), and severe hunger in the household (HHS 4–6) according to the HHS score. Both groups are compared to the no/little hunger group.
Analyses were conducted using mixed effects modeling. The covariates included in the mixed-effects model are marital status, education status, age categories, income categories, seniors in the household, children in the household, race/ethnicity, occupation, and household size.
Economic hardship was defined as experiencing at least one of the listed hardships in the past three months: medical expenses, job loss, reduced pay/h, divorce, home-related expenses, foreclosure/eviction notice, death of a family member or breadwinner, debt, legal expenses, or other hardship.
Number of adverse economic events was determined based on the number selected by each participant.
Types of adverse economic events were coded as separate variables.