Association Between Food Insecurity and Inability to Obtain Provider-Recommended Medications, Multidisciplinary Services, and Technology in Youth and Young Adults With Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: We assessed if food insecurity (FI) is associated with not obtaining recommended diabetes medications, technology, and multidisciplinary services, and explored the most common reasons for not obtaining recommended treatments in youth and young adults (YYA) with diabetes.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, among 911 YYA with type 1 diabetes (T1D) and 144 with type 2 diabetes (T2D) from the SEARCH Food Security Cohort Study Follow-up 1 (2018-2021), FI (≥ 3 items affirmed from the 18-item Household Food Security Survey module), and inability to obtain recommended treatments were self-reported.

Results: Almost 30% of YYA with T1D and FI and 20% of YYA with T2D and FI did not obtain 1 or more recommended treatments.