Utilization Patterns of a Food Referral Program: Findings from the Mid-Ohio Farmacy

Article Figures & Data

Table 1.

Characteristics of Patients Referred to and Participating in the Mid-Ohio Farmacy Project

Characteristic	Total Referred (n = 339)	Pantry Visitors (n = 164)	Non-Pantry Visitors (n = 158)	Declined (n = 17)
Mean age (SD)	51.6 (12.9)	53.5 (11.5)	49.4 (13.6)	54.6 (16.0)
Female, n (%)	261 (76.9)	130 (79.3)	119 (75.3)	12 (70.6)
Race, n (%)
White	95 (28.0)	44 (26.8)	42 (26.6)	9 (52.9)
Black	225 (66.4)	112 (68.3)	106 (67.1)	7 (41.2)
Other	19 (5.6)	8 (4.9)	10 (6.3)	1 (5.9)
Mean household size (SD)^*	2.4 (2.0)	2.9 (2.2)	1.9 (1.7)	—
Insurance, n (%)
Medicaid	152 (44.8)	73 (44.4)	72 (45.6)	7 (41.2)
Medicare	105 (30.9)	57 (34.7)	44 (27.8)	4 (23.5)
Other^**	82 (24.2)	34 (20.7)	42 (26.6)	6 (35.3)
Diabetes, n (%)	157 (46.3)	86 (52.4)	65 (41.1)	6 (35.3)
Uncontrolled diabetes, n (%)	42 (19.3)	25 (21.7)	17 (18.3)	0
Hypertension, n (%)	184 (54.3)	91 (55.5)	83 (52.5)	10 (58.8)
Uncontrolled hypertension, n (%)	93 (28.1)	32 (20.0)	53 (34.4)	8 (47.1)
Obesity, n (%)	275 (81.1)	138 (84.1)	123 (77.8)	14 (82.3)
Pregnant, n (%)	4 (1.2)	2 (1.2)	1 (0.6)	1 (5.9)
Pre-referral visitor, n (%)^*	128 (39.7)	100 (60.0)	28 (17.7)	—

SD, standard deviation.
↵* Data not available for patients that Declined (n = 322).
↵** Other insurance includes patients with private insurance (n = 70), self-pay (n = 7), and unknown (n = 5).

Table 2.

Likelihood of Visiting a Food Pantry Among Patients Participating in the Mid-Ohio Farmacy (n = 322)

Characteristic	Marginal Effect (%)^*	95% CI	P value^*
Age (1-year)	0.7	0.00 to 0.01	<.001
Female	−0.2	−0.12 to 0.11	.96
Race
White	Ref	Ref	Ref
Black	−4.6	−0.15 to 0.06	.39
Other	−8.8	−0.31 to 0.13	.43
Household size	2.6	−0.00 to 0.05	.05
Insurance
Other	Ref	Ref	Ref
Medicaid	−2.4	−0.14 to 0.09	.69
Medicare	−5.9	−0.19 to 0.07	.39
Diabetes	11.0	0.01 to 0.21	.03
Uncontrolled diabetes	−3.0	−0.18 to 0.12	.70
Hypertension	2.8	−0.07 to 0.13	.57
Uncontrolled hypertension	−19.3	−0.30 to −0.08	<.001
Obesity	4.7	−0.07 to 0.17	.45
Pregnant	32.3	−0.16 to 0.81	.19
Pre-referral visitor	35.8	0.28 to 0.43	<.001

Table 3.

Utilization of Mid-Ohio Farmacy Food Pantries by New and Existing Visitors

Characteristic	Total Visitors (n = 164) Mean (SD)	New Visitors (n = 64) Mean (SD)	Existing Visitors (n = 100) Mean (SD)	P value^*
Characteristic	Total visits	7.8 (9.7)	4.0 (5.6)	P value^*	10.1 (10.9)	<.001
Days to first visit	51.4 (75.1)	74.8 (97.2)	36.3 (51.9)	<.001
Distance traveled (miles)	3.7 (2.7)	4.4 (2.8)	3.3 (2.6)	.015
Produce visits^{^†}	1.2 (3.9)	1.2 (2.7)	1.2 (4.5)	.979
Visits within 30 days post-referral	1.1 (1.5)	0.8 (0.9)	1.4 (1.6)	.012
Visits >30 ≤ 60 days post-referral	1.3 (1.9)	0.65 (1.2)	1.8 (2.2)	<.001
Visits >60 ≤ 90 days post-referral	0.9 (1.5)	0.5 (0.9)	1.2 (1.7)	.001

SD, standard deviation.
↵* P value estimated from t test.
↵† Produce visits are defined as those where the patient predominantly selects produce items from the food pantry as indicated in the FreshTrak system by pantry staff.

Table 4.

Comparison of Use Pre- and Post-Referral Among Existing Food Pantry Visitors for Users with at Least 90 Days of Post-Referral Data

Characteristic	Pre-Referral (n = 81) Mean (SD)	Post-Referral (n = 81) Mean (SD)	P value^*
Characteristic	Produce visits^{^†}	0.5 (1.2)	P value^*	0.9 (2.3)	.021
Visits within 30 days pre-/post-referral	1.1 (1.6)	1.3 (1.6)	.201
Visits >30 ≤ 60 days pre-/post-referral	0.9 (1.2)	1.8 (2.2)	<.001
Visits >60 ≤ 90 days pre-/post-referral	1.0 (1.6)	1.3 (1.6)	.251

SD, standard deviation.
↵* P value estimated from t test.
↵† Produce visits are defined as those where the patient predominantly selects produce items from the food pantry as indicated in the FreshTrak system by pantry staff.