Prevalence of cardiovascular disease risk factors associated with residential natural hazard risk

Specific natural hazards are associated with increased chronic disease risk. Less is known about the impact of living in regions with elevated natural hazards risk.

We evaluated cross-sectional associations between predicted residential natural hazard risk and CVD-related risk factors.

We used data from the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study, a prospective cohort enrolled following the Deepwater Horizon disaster (N = 32,608). We evaluated diabetes prevalence among 29,714 participants who provided enrollment data on self-reported physician diagnosis of diabetes. In separate analyses, we evaluated obesity and hypertension using data from 10,727 home visit participants with measured height, weight, and blood pressure. We linked geocoded residential enrollment and home visit addresses to the National Risk Index (NRI, 1960-2020), a monetized risk score that quantifies overall and hazard-specific risk at the census-tract level. Modified Poisson regression estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) for associations between quartiles of overall and natural hazard-specific risks and prevalence of diabetes, hypertension (systolic/diastolic blood pressure ≥ 140/90 mmHg or antihypertensive medication use), and obesity (BMI ≥ 30.0 kg/m²).

The highest quartile of overall NRI was associated with hypertension (Q4 vs. Q1 PR:1.16[1.09,1.24]) but not diabetes or obesity. All quartiles of hurricane risk were associated with higher diabetes prevalence (PR1.33 to 1.36). Increasing quartiles of heatwave risk were associated with increasing prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, with PRs 1.23[1.09,1.38], 1.12[1.04,1.19] and 1.09[1.03,1.16] for Q4 vs. Q1, respectively.

Residing in areas prone to natural disasters is associated with higher prevalence of key cardiovascular disease risk factors.