Background and Objectives: Screening for and addressing food insecurity in primary care may improve associated comorbidities. The purpose of this study was to explore patient attitudes regarding screening for food insecurity and to elicit patient preferences for intervention in a primary care setting.
Methods: Patients (N=284) completed a brief, voluntary survey in a university-based clinic and two community-based clinics over a 5-month period. Respondents were classified as either food-secure or food-insecure based on their responses to a validated food insecurity screener.
Results: Participants stated that screening for food insecurity was valuable in the primary care setting (83.9%). Patients preferred having a nurse ask the screening questions (41.2%). The most popular intervention preference, regardless of food security status or clinic type, was to provide a list of food bank locations (76.4%) and local community organizations (71.6%) and to have referral to financial assistance programs (75.4%). There were no differences in preferences for screening or attitudes toward screening by food security status or clinic type (all P≥.05).
Conclusions: Screening for food insecurity is not yet standard practice, partly due to concerns over potentially alienating patients with the screening questions. Based on our surveyed patient population and their indicated preferences, screening and providing resource referrals for food insecurity is not likely to damage the clinician-patient relationship.
Sarcoidosis is a systemic disorder characterized by development of granulomas within various organs in the body. It commonly affects people of African American and Scandinavian heritage between the ages of 20 and 40. The lungs are involved in 90% of patients. We report a case of sarcoidosis of the spleen and liver with minimal pulmonary involvement.
A 57-year-old white man presented with acute abdominal pain and rash without any prodromal symptoms. The skin biopsy confirmed immunoglobulin A (IgA) vasculitis with small vessel vasculitis and perivascular IgA, C3, and fibrin deposition. IgA vasculitis is diagnosed most commonly in children and presents in adults in only 10% of cases. Treatment is usually supportive care, and interventions may be required to avoid complications such as nephrotic syndrome or acute gastrointestinal bleeding. Clinicians should be aware of IgA vasculitis as a potential cause for abdominal pain and rash in adult populations.
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