AUTHOR=Lee Jeongyoon , Pak Tae-Young 

TITLE=Longitudinal Associations Between Food Insecurity and Suicidal Ideation Among Adults Aged ≥65 in the Korean Welfare Panel Study

JOURNAL=International Journal of Public Health

VOLUME=68

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.ssph-journal.org/journals/international-journal-of-public-health/articles/10.3389/ijph.2023.1605618

DOI=10.3389/ijph.2023.1605618

ISSN=1661-8564

ABSTRACT=<p><bold>Objectives</bold><italic>:</italic> This study aimed to explore longitudinal associations between food insecurity and suicidal ideation, and the moderating roles of intervention programs.</p><p><bold>Methods:</bold> Data were derived from the 2012–2019 waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study. Participants aged <inline-formula id="inf1"><mml:math id="m1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"><mml:mrow><mml:mo>≥</mml:mo></mml:mrow></mml:math></inline-formula>65 at baseline (<italic>n</italic> = 4,425) and their annual follow-up measurements for a mean of 6.58 years were included. Conditional fixed effects logistic regressions were used to test 1) associations between food insecurity and the onset of suicidal ideation; 2); whether associations were attenuated by food assistance and income support programs.</p><p><bold>Results:</bold> Food insecurity was associated with higher odds of suicidal ideation in the full sample (OR, 1.77; 95% CI, 1.37–2.29), among women (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.24–2.26) and men (OR, 2.06; 95% CI, 1.25–3.40). The association between food insecurity and suicidal ideation was attenuated by participation in home-delivered meal services (OR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.21–0.88).</p><p><bold>Conclusion:</bold> Food insecure older adults were more likely to consider committing suicide than their food secure counterparts. Food assistance through home-delivered meal services, but not other intervention programs, could weaken this link.</p>