Food insecurity among New York City taxi and for-hire vehicle drivers

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Gany, Francesca M.^{a; b; *} | Meraji, Nujbat Nasim^a | Narang, Bharat^a | Wu, Minlun^a | Leng, Jennifer^{a; b}

Affiliations: [a] Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA | [b] Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Francesca M. Gany, MD, MS, Chief, Immigrant Health and Cancer Disparities Service, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 633 Third Avenue, 4^th Floor, New York, NY 10017, USA. E-mail: [email protected].

Abstract: BACKGROUND:New York City’s (NYC’s) taxi/for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers have occupational and demographic characteristics associated with food insecurity (low income, comorbidities, minority race/ethnicity). OBJECTIVE:To analyze food insecurity rates in a sample of NYC drivers and to identify associated factors. METHODS:At health fairs, we recruited a cross-sectional sample of licensed taxi/FHV drivers willing to receive study text messages. Most lacked a primary care provider. Food insecurity prevalence and associations with health and economic indicators were analyzed. RESULTS:Of 503 participants who completed a 2-item food security screener, 39.2% were food insecure. Significantly fewer food insecure than food secure drivers reported a doctor visit within the past year (48% vs 25%; P < .001). Food insecure drivers had greater weekly traffic ticket expenditure ($34 vs $24; P = .02) and were more likely to report insufficient household income (61% vs 39%; P < .001) and history of depression (14% vs 7%; P = .02), to have elevated (>200) measured total cholesterol (50% vs 37%; P = .02), and to have Perceived Stress Scale scores indicating greater stress than food secure drivers (14 vs 11; P = .002). In a binary logistic regression analysis, drivers who reported that their total household income was enough to meet their basic needs had significantly lower odds of being food insecure (0.695 odds ratio; P = .016). CONCLUSION:Food insecurity was high in this group of taxi/FHV drivers. Food insecurity interventions are needed and could be occupationally based, with worksite screening and resource navigation. Policies should address improving wages and healthcare access.

Keywords: Workplace, stress, psychological, food insecurity, primary health care, ethnicity

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-211471

Journal: Work, vol. 74, no. 4, pp. 1585-1594, 2023