Association between Food Insecurity and Chronic Eye Disease in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program

Authors

Ramin Talebi, Thomas Jefferson UniversityFollow
Fei Yu
Victoria L. Tseng
Anne L. Coleman

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2025

Comments

This article is the author's final published version in Ophthalmology Science, Volume 5, Issue 3, May 2025 , Article number 100697.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xops.2024.100697.

Copyright © 2025 Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Academy of Ophthalmolo

Abstract

Purpose

Food insecurity is a potential risk factor for visual impairment; however, its association with specific eye diseases remains unknown. This study aims to examine the association between food insecurity and chronic eye diseases including glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), diabetic retinopathy (DR), and cataracts.

Design

Cross-sectional.

Participants

Participants of the All of Us (AoU) Research Program, who had electronic health record data and responded to survey questions regarding food insecurity.

Methods

Population-based. Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine associations between food insecurity and each eye disease.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Primary outcomes included glaucoma, AMD, DR, or cataracts, based on the International Classification of Disease, 9th and 10th Revision codes.

Results

A total of 78 694 participants were included in the study population. Of these, 9732 (12.4%) reported food insecurity, 2095 (2.7%) had glaucoma, 1398 (1.8%) had AMD, 1127 (1.4%) had DR, and 10 135 (12.9%) had cataracts. Compared with those without food insecurity, participants with food insecurity had significantly higher odds of glaucoma (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.43, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.18–1.72, P ≤ 0.001) but not of AMD (aOR: 0.91, 95% CI: 0.67–1.21, P = 0.544), DR (aOR: 1.15, 95% CI: 0.93–1.42, P = 0.180), or cataracts (aOR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.87–1.08, P = 0.635).

Conclusions

This study found a positive association between food insecurity and glaucoma in the AoU Research Program. Further research should focus on understanding disease-specific mechanisms for this association. Adequate social determinants of health screening and population interventions to improve stable access to healthy food options may prove vital for reducing the risk of eye disease.

Financial Disclosure(s)

Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Recommended Citation

Talebi, Ramin; Yu, Fei; Tseng, Victoria L.; and Coleman, Anne L., "Association between Food Insecurity and Chronic Eye Disease in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program" (2025). SKMC Student Presentations and Publications. Paper 48.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/skmcstudentworks/48

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Language

English