Evaluating the Effects of Food Deserts and Food Swamps in an Urban Burn Patient Population.

This article investigates the relationship between neighborhood food environments—specifically food deserts and food swamps—and clinical characteristics and wound healing outcomes in adult burn patients treated at an American Burn Association-verified urban academic center. Using the modified Retail Food Environment Index (mRFEI) to classify patients' residential census tracts, the study found that 81.3% of 3,063 burn patients lived in food swamps, which are areas with high availability of nutrient-poor foods, and 3.1% lived in food deserts, defined as areas with limited access to affordable nutritious foods. Patients residing in food swamps exhibited higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and tobacco smoking compared to those in food deserts or areas with good food access. However, the food environment classification was not significantly associated with wound healing time in a subgroup of 206 patients undergoing split-thickness skin grafting, whereas diabetes was linked to prolonged healing. The study highlights the prevalence of comorbidities in food swamp residents but concludes that neighborhood food environment alone does not significantly impact burn wound healing time.