Compounding Effects of Social Vulnerability and Recurring Natural Disasters on Mental and Physical Health

This study evaluated the relationships between the occurrence of recent and recurring natural disasters on the incidence of acute and chronic health outcomes at the census tract level in 500 cities across the United States between 2001 and 2015.

Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 500 cities data set, the CDC Social Vulnerability Index, and the US Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster Loan Database, we modeled the incidence of self-reported, poor mental and physical health, or a clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure or asthma in census tracts (N = 27 204 tracts in 500 cities) that had experienced recent or recurring natural disasters while controlling for social and environmental risk factors.

Communities that experienced a natural disaster in the previous 5 years compared to those that had not had a higher incidence of poor mental health (RR: 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01-1.02), poor physical health (RR: 1.03, 95% CI: 1.02-1.04), high blood pressure (RR: 1.04, 95% CI: 1.02-1.05), and asthma (RR: 1.01, 95% CI: 1.01-1.02). The incidence of these poor health outcomes increased 1-2% with each additional year that a community experienced a disaster.

Prevention and preparedness plans that work to build resilience in communities before disasters should focus on closing the gap in environmental and social determinants that have been linked with disproportionate health burdens and slow recovery post-disaster.