Using Hospital ED Data to Identify Mental Illness Trends After Hurricane Sandy

Emergency department chief complaint (EDCC) data provides an opportunity for capturing the early mental health impact of disaster events at the community level, and to track their impact over time. Mental health keyword lists were generated and used to conduct a study of mental health EDCCs after Hurricane Sandy in New York State. Compared with the unaffected area, the relative risk of EDCCs in the affected counties was significantly higher during the 12-day Sandy period (RR 1.16, 95% CI 1.03-1.31), as well as in the 1-year post-Sandy period (RR 1.12, 95% CI 1.01-1.25).

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Carbon Monoxide Poisoning during Hurricane Sandy in Affected New York State Counties

Online Journal of Public Health Informatics ◽

10.5210/ojphi.v7i1.5785 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jian-Hua Chen ◽

Ursula Lauper ◽

Cristian Pantea ◽

Shao Lin ◽

Hwa-Gan Chang

Keyword(s):

Emergency Department ◽

New York ◽

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Retrospective Study ◽

Carbon Monoxide Poisoning ◽

New York State ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

Chief Complaint ◽

Power Outage ◽

York State

This was a retrospective study that combined with emergency department visit chief complaint and power outage data to evaluation of carbon monoxide poisoning during hurricane Sandy in three most affected New York State counties.

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Window of Opportunity for New Disease Surveillance: Developing Keyword Lists for Monitoring Mental Health and Injury Through Syndromic Surveillance

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2016.99 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 173-178 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ursula Lauper ◽

Jian-Hua Chen ◽

Shao Lin

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

Mental Health ◽

New York ◽

Syndromic Surveillance ◽

New York State ◽

Hurricane Sandy ◽

York State Department ◽

Free Text ◽

York State ◽

The Impact

AbstractStudies have documented the impact that hurricanes have on mental health and injury rates before, during, and after the event. Since timely tracking of these disease patterns is crucial to disaster planning, response, and recovery, syndromic surveillance keyword filters were developed by the New York State Department of Health to study the short- and long-term impacts of Hurricane Sandy. Emergency department syndromic surveillance is recognized as a valuable tool for informing public health activities during and immediately following a disaster. Data typically consist of daily visit reports from hospital emergency departments (EDs) of basic patient data and free-text chief complaints. To develop keyword lists, comparisons were made with existing CDC categories and then integrated with lists from the New York City and New Jersey health departments in a collaborative effort. Two comprehensive lists were developed, each containing multiple subcategories and over 100 keywords for both mental health and injury. The data classifiers using these keywords were used to assess impacts of Sandy on mental health and injuries in New York State. The lists will be validated by comparing the ED chief complaint keyword with the final ICD diagnosis code. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:173–178)

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