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Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston, Texas on 25 August 2017, the psychological and physical effects of which are still unknown. We assessed hurricane exposure and the immediate mental health needs of the population to define public health priorities for a larger epidemiological study. Conveni...

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Autores principales: Schwartz, Rebecca M., Tuminello, Stephanie, Kerath, Samantha M., Rios, Janelle, Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil, Taioli, Emanuela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2018
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5982013/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29757262
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050974
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author Schwartz, Rebecca M.
Tuminello, Stephanie
Kerath, Samantha M.
Rios, Janelle
Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil
Taioli, Emanuela
author_facet Schwartz, Rebecca M.
Tuminello, Stephanie
Kerath, Samantha M.
Rios, Janelle
Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil
Taioli, Emanuela
author_sort Schwartz, Rebecca M.
collection PubMed
description Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston, Texas on 25 August 2017, the psychological and physical effects of which are still unknown. We assessed hurricane exposure and the immediate mental health needs of the population to define public health priorities for a larger epidemiological study. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants (n = 41) from the greater Houston area aged ≥18 years. Participants completed a questionnaire about demographics, hurricane exposures, and physical/mental health. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was measured with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-S (PCL-S; a score ≥30 indicated probable PTSD symptoms). The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) was used to assess symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. The average PTSD score was 32.9 (SD = 17.1); a total of 46% of participants met the threshold for probable PTSD. Increased overall hurricane exposure (adjusted odds ratio (OR(adj)) 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06–2.05) and property-related exposure (OR(adj) 1.53; 95% CI: 1.07–2.18) were both statistically significantly associated with increased odds of probable PTSD symptoms. A perception of chemical/toxin exposure due to Hurricane Harvey was reported by 44% of participants. A higher number of personal or property exposures were associated with greater mental health symptoms three weeks post-hurricane. This work has implications for the ongoing response to Hurricane Harvey and for assessing the immediate needs of the population.
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spelling pubmed-59820132018-06-07 Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact Schwartz, Rebecca M. Tuminello, Stephanie Kerath, Samantha M. Rios, Janelle Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil Taioli, Emanuela Int J Environ Res Public Health Communication Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Houston, Texas on 25 August 2017, the psychological and physical effects of which are still unknown. We assessed hurricane exposure and the immediate mental health needs of the population to define public health priorities for a larger epidemiological study. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants (n = 41) from the greater Houston area aged ≥18 years. Participants completed a questionnaire about demographics, hurricane exposures, and physical/mental health. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) was measured with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-S (PCL-S; a score ≥30 indicated probable PTSD symptoms). The Patient Health Questionnaire-4 (PHQ-4) was used to assess symptoms of depression and generalized anxiety disorder. The average PTSD score was 32.9 (SD = 17.1); a total of 46% of participants met the threshold for probable PTSD. Increased overall hurricane exposure (adjusted odds ratio (OR(adj)) 1.42; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.06–2.05) and property-related exposure (OR(adj) 1.53; 95% CI: 1.07–2.18) were both statistically significantly associated with increased odds of probable PTSD symptoms. A perception of chemical/toxin exposure due to Hurricane Harvey was reported by 44% of participants. A higher number of personal or property exposures were associated with greater mental health symptoms three weeks post-hurricane. This work has implications for the ongoing response to Hurricane Harvey and for assessing the immediate needs of the population. MDPI 2018-05-13 2018-05 /pmc/articles/PMC5982013/ /pubmed/29757262 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050974 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Communication
Schwartz, Rebecca M.
Tuminello, Stephanie
Kerath, Samantha M.
Rios, Janelle
Lieberman-Cribbin, Wil
Taioli, Emanuela
Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title_full Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title_fullStr Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title_full_unstemmed Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title_short Preliminary Assessment of Hurricane Harvey Exposures and Mental Health Impact
title_sort preliminary assessment of hurricane harvey exposures and mental health impact
topic Communication
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5982013/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29757262
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050974
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