Analysis finds inpatient food insecurity relates to longer hospital stays and increased readmissions in children with cancer and blood disorders.
Children with cancer and blood disorders are at risk for food insecurity (FI). We aimed to describe the association of inpatient food insecurity (IFI) and hospitalization outcomes among patients admitted to the pediatric hematology oncology service. Of 325 caregivers screened for IFI, 60 (18.6%) screened positive. Of these, 70.5% screened negative for household FI. IFI was associated with a 33% longer mean length of stay (3.9 vs. 2.6 days, p < 0.0001) and 1.4 times higher odds of readmissions (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.9-2.2, p = 0.1). IFI merits consideration as a distinct social risk factor in pediatric patients with cancer and blood disorders.
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Robles et al. (2026) studied this question.
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