An approach to selecting single or multiple social risk factors for clinic-based screening

Increasingly, healthcare systems are screening for social risk factors and connecting patients with programs to mitigate their social needs and improve health outcomes. A recent national survey demonstrated substantial variability in the selection of social risk factors for screening. Many clinics appear to rely on practitioner opinion rather than patient-derived data to choose risk factor domains. During a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in a federally qualified health center, we collected information about seven social risk factors from study participants. In this report, we present an analytic approach that such a clinic might use to guide the selection of social risk factors for screening.