Interrelationships among health-related social needs: Strong clustering patterns identified through comprehensive screening

Health-related social needs (HRSNs) often co-occur and their combined presence may amplify adverse health outcomes and increase healthcare utilization. Prior studies identified strong clustering among needs like food insecurity and housing instability, while demonstrating more moderate associations among other needs. These have led to differing views on whether bundled or targeted interventions are more effective. Both studies have limitations: one identified synergies between HRSNs using a broad screening tool but did not quantify the strength of relationships through correlation analysis; while in contrast the other employed correlation methods but observed weaker associations, likely due to screening for a limited set of social needs. This study aimed to determine the strength of relationships between social needs using correlation analysis with a broader, more comprehensive screening tool.