Housing Insecurity and the Association With Health Outcomes and Unhealthy Behaviors, Washington State, 2011

Few studies of associations between housing and health have focused on housing insecurity and health risk behaviors and outcomes. We measured the association between housing insecurity and selected health risk behaviors and outcomes, adjusted for socioeconomic measures, among 8,415 respondents to the 2011 Washington State Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Housing insecure respondents were about twice as likely as those who were not housing insecure to report poor or fair health status or delay doctor visits because of costs. This analysis supports a call to action among public health practitioners who address disparities to focus on social determinants of health risk behaviors and outcomes.