Prevalence of food insecurity and comprehensiveness of its measurement for older adult congregate meals program participants.

Food insecurity prevalence was assessed for 189 community-dwelling older adults participating in congregate meals, using the national CPS-FSSM survey, based on economics, and augmented items, including such factors as ability to prepare and/or shop for food. Results showed that 80.4% were food secure; lower than the national rate for older adult households (92.4%). Age, gender, and educational level were found to be statistically significant indicators of food security status. Scores based on national versus augmented items were significantly correlated, but scores for augmented items showed higher levels of food insecurity for 29.1% of participants, indicating these items were identifying at-risk individuals overlooked using only the national economics-based items.