Food Insecurity, Healthcare Utilization, and Healthcare Expenditures: A Longitudinal Cohort Study

Objective: This study examines the longitudinal association between household food insecurity and healthcare utilization and expenditure. Methods: A multi-wave longitudinal cohort study was conducted using the 2008–2019 and 2021 waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study. The baseline data included participants aged ≥19 years with valid responses to the food insecurity and healthcare questionnaires in the 2008 wave ( n = 12,166). Healthcare outcomes encompassed outpatient visits, inpatient admissions, days hospitalized, and personal healthcare expenditure. Random effects Poisson and linear regressions were estimated. Results: Severe food insecurity was associated with a higher incidence rate of outpatient visits (IRR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.12–1.17), days of hospitalization (IRR, 1.18; 95% CI, 1.13–1.22), and inpatient admissions (IRR, 1.40; 95% CI, 1.18–1.65). Moderate food insecurity was associated with 10.4% ( β = −0.11; 95% CI, −0.14 to −0.07) or 238,276 KRW reductions in personal healthcare expenditures in the subsequent year. Conclusion: Household food insecurity was linked to increased healthcare utilization and reduced personal healthcare expenditure among Korean adults. Our findings present opportunities to identify target populations for healthcare policies and interventions.