Social Risk Factors Are Associated With Disability Prevalence - Results From 17 States in the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Sharpe JA, Miller R, Cook CE, Hastings SN, Rethorn TJ, Allen KD, Rethorn ZD. Social Risk Factors Are Associated With Disability Prevalence - Results From 17 States in the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. American Journal of Health Promotion : AJHP. 2023 May 1; 37(4):453-463.

Related HSR&D Project(s)

• RCS 19-332 – Research Career Scientist Award

Dimensions for VA is a web-based tool available to VA staff that enables detailed searches of published research and research projects.

If you have VA-Intranet access, click here for more information vaww.hsrd.research.va.gov/dimensions/

VA staff not currently on the VA network can access Dimensions by registering for an account using their VA email address.    Search Dimensions for VA for this citation
* Don't have VA-internal network access or a VA email address? Try searching the free-to-the-public version of Dimensions

Search for Abstract from PubMed

---

Abstract:

PURPOSE: Determine the association between incremental increases in the number of social risk factors and the prevalence of any disability and disability type. DESIGN: The cross-sectional analysis was conducted using 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data from states whose surveys included items about social risk factors. SETTING: Respondents from 17 US states. SUBJECTS: Respondents included 136 432 adults. MEASURES: Dichotomized social risk factors included food, housing, and financial insecurity, unsafe neighborhood, and healthcare access hardship. ANALYSIS: Weighted ? and logistic regression analyses adjusted for demographic characteristics, measures of socioeconomic position, and comorbid health conditions were used to examine differences in the prevalence of disability by social risk factor and via a social risk index created by summing the social risk factors. RESULTS: Compared to those reporting 0 social risk factors, respondents reporting = 4 had more than thrice the odds of reporting a cognition ((adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 3.37; 95%CI [2.75-4.13]), independent living (AOR = 3.24 [2.52-4.15]), self-care (AOR = 3.33 [2.55-4.34]), or any disability (AOR = 3.90 [3.24-4.70]); more than twice the odds of reporting a vision (AOR = 2.61 [1.93-3.52]) or mobility (AOR = 2.72 [2.16-3.41]) disability; and more than 1.5 times the odds of reporting a hearing disability (AOR = 1.59 [1.22-2.07]). CONCLUSIONS: Incremental increases in the number of social risk factors were independently associated with higher odds of disability. Intervention efforts should address the social context of US adults with disabilities to improve health outcomes.