Table 1.
Socio-demographic, economic, and other descriptive characteristics of the study participants (N = 412)†.
| Variable | Total |
Food secure n = 236 (57.3%) |
Food insecure n = 176 (42.7%) |
p-value‡ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | 33.80 ± 12.02 | 33.22 ± 12.45 | 34.57 ± 11.42 | 0.262 |
| Gender | ||||
| Male | 92 (22.3%) | 50 (21.2%) | 42 (23.9%) | 0.519 |
| Female | 320 (77.7%) | 186 (78.8%) | 134 (76.1%) | |
| Marital status | ||||
| Single/widowed/married | 241 (58.5%) | 143 (60.6%) | 98 (55.7%) | 0.317 |
| Married | 171 (41.5%) | 93 (39.4%) | 78 (44.3%) | |
| Education level | ||||
| Intermediate and below | 9 (2.1%) | 1 (0.4%) | 8 (4.5%) | 0.002 |
| Secondary | 20 (4.9%) | 7 (3.0%) | 13 (7.4%) | |
| University | 383 (93.0%) | 228 (96.6%) | 155 (88.1%) | |
| Employment status | ||||
| Employed | 250 (60.7%) | 137 (58.1%) | 113 (64.2%) | 0.206 |
| Unemployed | 162 (39.3%) | 99 (41.9%) | 63 (35.8%) | |
| Monthly income | ||||
| Low (<1,000$) | 61 (14.8%) | 26 (11.0%) | 35 (19.9%) | <0.001 |
| Intermediate (1,000$-2000) | 104 (25.2%) | 45 (19.1%) | 59 (33.5%) | |
| High (>2,000$) | 207 (50.2%) | 138 (58.5%) | 69 (39.2%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 40 (9.7%) | 27 (11.4%) | 13 (7.4%) | |
| Source of income at home is from individuals work | ||||
| Yes | 383 (93.0%) | 223 (94.5%) | 160 (90.9%) | 0.103 |
| No | 18 (4.4%) | 6 (2.5%) | 12 (6.8%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 11 (2.7%) | 7 (3.0%) | 4 (2.3%) | |
| Receiving financial support from relatives | ||||
| Yes | 60 (14.6%) | 26 (11.0%) | 34 (19.3%) | 0.050 |
| No | 342 (83.0%) | 205 (86.9%) | 137 (77.8%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 10 (2.4%) | 5 (2.1%) | 5 (2.8%) | |
| Receiving financial assistance from governmental or non-governmental institutions? | ||||
| Yes | 11 (2.7%) | 9 (3.8%) | 2 (1.1%) | 0.232 |
| No | 393 (95.4%) | 223 (94.5%) | 170 (96.6%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 8 (1.9%) | 4 (1.7%) | 4 (2.3%) | |
| Receiving any income/aid in foreign currency | ||||
| Yes | 99 (24.0%) | 65 (27.5%) | 34 (19.3%) | 0.153 |
| No | 297 (72.1%) | 162 (68.6%) | 135 (76.7%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 16 (3.9%) | 9 (3.8%) | 7 (4.0%) | |
| Perceived financial status | ||||
| Poor | 73 (17.7%) | 19 (8.1%) | 54 (30.7%) | <0.001 |
| Average | 314 (76.2%) | 198 (83.9%) | 116 (65.9%) | |
| Rich | 6 (1.5%) | 5 (2.1%) | 1 (0.6%) | |
| Refuse to answer | 19 (4.6%) | 14 (5.9%) | 5 (2.8%) | |
| Taking medication for insomnia | ||||
| Yes | 36 (8.7%) | 11 (4.7%) | 25 (14.2%) | 0.001 |
| No | 376 (91.3%) | 225 (95.3%) | 151 (85.8%) | |
| Taking medication for depression | ||||
| Yes | 27 (6.6%) | 9 (3.8%) | 18 (10.2%) | 0.009 |
| No | 385 (93.4%) | 227 (96.2%) | 158 (89.8%) | |
| Taking medication for anxiety | ||||
| Yes | 19 (4.6%) | 5 (2.1%) | 14 (8.0%) | 0.005 |
| No | 393 (95.4%) | 231 (97.9%) | 162 (92.0%) | |
| Smoking status | ||||
| Yes | 127 (30.8%) | 67 (28.4%) | 60 (34.1%) | 0.215 |
| No | 285 (69.2%) | 169 (71.6%) | 116 (65.9%) | |
| Alcohol consumption | ||||
| Yes | 188 (45.6%) | 116 (49.2%) | 72 (40.9%) | 0.097 |
| No | 224 (54.4%) | 120 (50.8%) | 104 (59.1%) | |
| Mean ± SD | Mean ± SD | |||
| Fear of poverty | 6.50 ± 2.73 | 5.80 ± 2.78 | 7.44 ± 2.36 | <0.001 |
| Fear of COVID-19 score | 14.91 ± 5.98 | 13.94 ± 5.60 | 16.22 ± 6.25 | <0.001 |
| Household crowding index | 1.00 ± 0.48 | 0.94 ± 0.42 | 1.09 ± 0.55 | 0.002 |
| Financial wellbeing scale (IFDFW) | 4.31 ± 2.12 | 5.14 ± 2.09 | 3.19 ± 1.57 | <0.001 |
†
Continuous variables were presented as means ± standard deviation (SD) and categorical variables were presented as frequencies and percentages n (%).
‡
The chi-square test was used for the comparison between categorical variables whereas the independent-sample t-test was used to compare continuous variables between the food security and insecurity groups. Statistical significance was presented as p < 0.05.