Healthcare Impacts Associated with Federally Declared Disasters—Hurricanes Gustave and Ike

Roberta Lavin (), Mary Pat Couig, Patricia Watts Kelley, Thais Schwarts and Fermin Ramos
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Roberta Lavin: College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Mary Pat Couig: College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Patricia Watts Kelley: College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Thais Schwarts: Clinical and Translational Science Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA
Fermin Ramos: College of Nursing, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 7, 1-18

Abstract: People impacted by disasters may have adverse non-communicable disease health effects associated with the disaster. This research examined the independent and joint impacts of federally declared disasters on the diagnosis of hypertension (HTN), diabetes (DM), anxiety, and medication changes 6 months before and after a disaster. Patients seen in zip codes that received a federal disaster declaration for Hurricanes Gustave or Ike in 2008 and who had electronic health records captured by MarketScan ® were analyzed. The analysis included patients seen 6 months before or after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike in 2008 and who were diagnosed with HTN, DM, or anxiety. There was a statistically significant association between post-disaster and diagnosis of hypertension, X 2 (1, n = 19,328) = 3.985, p = 0.04. There was no association post-disaster and diabetes X 2 (1, n = 19,328) = 0.778, p = 0.378 or anxiety, X 2 (1, n = 19,328) = 0.017, p = 0.898. The research showed that there was a change in the diagnosis of HTN after a disaster. Changes in HTN are an additional important consideration for clinicians in disaster-prone areas. Data about non-communicable diseases help healthcare disaster planners to include primary care needs and providers in the plans to prevent the long-term health impacts of disasters and expedite recovery efforts.

Keywords: hypertension; diabetes; anxiety; disaster; non-communicable disease (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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