Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Mental Health among US Adults

2019 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 1186-1199
Author(s):  
Ruopeng An ◽  
Yingjie Qiu ◽  
Xiaoling Xiang ◽  
Mengmeng Ji ◽  
Chenghua Guan

Objectives: Hurricane Katrina was an intense tropical cyclone that made landfall in the United States (US) in August 2005, causing catastrophic damage in several states. This study examined the impact of Hurricane Katrina on mental health status among US adults. Methods: Multilevel regressions based on the difference-in-differences study design were performed on individual-level data (N = 70,267) retrieved from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System 2004-2006 surveys. Results: Hurricane Katrina was found to be associated with an increase of 0.68 poor mental health days among residents of Katrina-affected states. The negative impact of Hurricane Katrina on mental health status tended to be larger among Louisiana residents, women, young and middle-aged adults, lower income respondents, and those with poor/fair self-rated physical health than among Mississippi residents, men, older adults, higher income respondents, and those with good/excellent self-rated physical health. Conclusion: Hurricane Katrina adversely impacted mental health of residents in Katrina-affected states, and the impact differed across population subgroups. Future studies should investigate other potential risk and protective factors for the mental health consequences of disasters. They should examine long-term impacts on mental health following disasters to better inform population-based mental health interventions for disaster survivors.

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Wagner

AbstractThis paper evaluates the effect of Medicaid expansions for individuals with disabilities on crime rates and mental health status. Using the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports and the CDC’s Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Surveys, I estimate the impact of Medicaid using an event study approach. Results indicate a reduction in crime incidence that was strongest in the years immediately following the expansion and dissipated over time. Estimates also suggest a smaller likelihood of one day of poor mental health within the past month, but this impact was short-lived. Analysis suggests that improved alcohol abuse was not a main explanation for mental health improvements. The analysis cannot eliminate whether improvements to non-alcohol substance abuse treatment, financial strain, or access to treatment for other mental illnesses explain the impact to crime and mental health status. Expanding Medicaid shows a degree of impact on both crime and mental health suggesting several policy considerations.


2013 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim R. Wind ◽  
Pooran C. Joshi ◽  
Rolf J. Kleber ◽  
Ivan H. Komproe

AbstractIntroductionVery little is known on the impact of recurrent disasters on mental health.AimThe present study examines the immediate impact of a recurrent flood on mental health and functioning among an affected population in the rural district of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, India, compared with a population in the same region that is not affected by floods.MethodsThe study compared 318 affected respondents with 308 individuals who were not affected by floods. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed by the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25 (HSCL-25). Psychological and physical functioning was assessed by using the Short Form-12 (SF-12).ResultsThe affected group showed large to very large differences with the comparison group on symptoms of anxiety (D = .92) and depression (D = 1.22). The affected group scored significantly lower on psychological and physical functioning than the comparison group (respectively D = .33 and D = .80). However, hierarchical linear regressions showed no significant relationship between mental health and the domains of functioning in the affected group, whereas mental health and the domains of functioning were significantly related in the comparison group.ConclusionThis study found a large negative impact of the recurrent floods on mental health outcomes and psychological and physical functioning. However, in a context with recurrent floods, disaster mental health status is not a relevant predictor of functioning. The findings suggest that the observed mental health status and impaired functioning in this context are also outcomes of another mechanism: Both outcomes are likely to be related to the erosion of the social and environmental and material context. As such, the findings refer to a need to implement psychosocial context-oriented interventions to address the erosion of the context rather than specific mental health interventions.WindTR, JoshiPC, KleberRJ, KomproeIH. The impact of recurrent disasters on mental health: a study on seasonal floods in northern India. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2013;28(3):1-7.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy López ◽  
Edward Vargas ◽  
Melina Juarez ◽  
Lisa Cacari-Stone ◽  
Sonia Bettez

Using the 2015 Latino National Health and Immigration Survey (N = 1,197), we examine the relationship between physical and mental health status and three multidimensional measures of race: (1) street race, or how you believe other “Americans” perceive your race at the level of the street; (2) socially assigned race, or what we call ascribed race, which refers to how you believe others usually classify your race in the United States; and (3) self-perceived race, or how you usually self-classify your race on questionnaires. We engage in intersectional inquiry by combining street race and gender. We find that only self-perceived race correlates with physical health and that street race is associated with mental health. We also find that men reporting their street race as Latinx or Arab were associated with higher odds of reporting worse mental health outcomes. One surprising finding was that for physical health, men reporting their street race as Latinx were associated with higher odds of reporting optimal physical health. Among women, those reporting their street race as Mexican were associated with lower odds of reporting optimal physical health when compared to all other women; for mental health status, however, we found no differences among women. We argue that street race is a promising multidimensional measure of race for exploring inequality among Latinxs.


Author(s):  
Desi Desi

<span class="fontstyle0">Gout Arthritis </span><span class="fontstyle0">is a disease known as gout, but in certain conditions this disease can cause physical<br />symptoms that are not visible to some people. When there are problems with physical health, other<br />health aspects will also have an impact. The same is true for patients diagnosed with </span><span class="fontstyle0">Gout Arthritis</span><span class="fontstyle0">,<br />not only physical aspects but can affect other aspects, especially when having physical symptoms such<br />as tofi. Mental health is a condition where there is a balance between emotional, behavioral and<br />cognitive. This is the basis of the importance of maintaining mental health for someone who does not<br />have physical health problems and for someone who has a disease such as </span><span class="fontstyle0">Gout Arthritis </span><span class="fontstyle0">patients. The<br />purpose of this study was to find out how mental health status in </span><span class="fontstyle0">Gout Arthritis </span><span class="fontstyle0">patients in Tomohon<br />City. Quantitative research using a descriptive approach was used in this study. Data collection used<br />survey methods with questionnaires. The results showed that the majority of respondents had adequate<br />mental health (80.6%). Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that mental health status in<br /></span><span class="fontstyle0">Gout Arthriti</span><span class="fontstyle0">s patients in Tomohon City was at a sufficient level. These influenced by himself and the<br />environment around them.</span> <br /><br />


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fumie Horiuchi ◽  
Kentaro Kawabe ◽  
Yasunori Oka ◽  
Kiwamu Nakachi ◽  
Rie Hosokawa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Sleep is essential for mental health at all ages, but few studies have investigated the importance of sleep for mental health in early childhood. Therefore, this study examined the association between mental health and sleep habits/problems in children aged 3–4 years. Methods Children aged 3 to 4 years who were living in the community (n = 415; 211/204 boys/girls) were recruited for this study. Their mental health was assessed using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), and their sleep habits/problems were evaluated using the Child and Adolescent Sleep Checklist. Results Based on the total difficulties score of the SDQ, the children were divided into two groups: a poor mental health group (n = 76) and a control group (n = 339). In terms of sleep habits, which included total sleep time, bedtime, wake time, and nap conditions, there were no differences between the two groups. Regarding sleep-related problems, however, anxiety before going to sleep (p = 0.026), circadian rhythm abnormalities (p = 0.014), and sleepiness during classes outside of naptimes (p = 0.031) were significantly higher in the poor mental health group than in the control group. Multiple regression analysis showed that poor mental health status was significantly associated with sleepiness and snoring (p = 0.017 and p = 0.018, respectively). Conclusions The mental health status of 3–4-year-old children was associated with sleep-related problems, namely sleepiness and snoring. Healthcare providers should pay attention to children’s irregular sleep-wake patterns; moreover, interventions for appropriate sleep hygiene will reduce the psychological burden on both children and their families.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Tasdik Hasan

Background: Depression is a major morbidity and the most common mental disorder among the medical students in medical schools globally. Undergraduate students suffer stress more due to their academic curriculum than the students of other faculties. In low resource settings like Bangladesh, there is a dearth in research on mental health of undergraduate medical students. This pilot study was conducted to add to the existing limited evidence by reporting the prevalence of depression, describing sleeping pattern &amp; suicidal tendencies among medical students. Relevantly, we have investigated to the overall mental health status among the medical students in Bangladesh. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in two medical colleges of Dhaka in between July 2013 to December 2013, among 221 Bangladeshi medical students from first to fifth year. By convenient sampling technique, data were collected by a pretested, structured, self-administered questionnaire and analysis was done by SPSS 18.0 version. Depression were assessed by validated PHQ-9 tool among the respondents. Goldberg’s General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) was used for assessing overall mental health status. Results: Depression was found in 38.9% of participants with 3.6%, 14.5%, 20.8% of being either severe, moderate and mild depression respectively. 17.6% medical students had suicidal tendency or attempted suicide at least for once after attending medical school. The sleeping hours were inadequate and altered after starting this stressful academic course. 33.5% medical students had poor mental health status. There was a statistically significant association between poor mental health status with age group of less than 22 years and initial academic study year (1st to 3rd of MBBS).Conclusion: The findings are suggestive of a higher prevalence of depression among early year medical students and marginal predominance in males. Suicidal tendency is also higher. These calls for further investigation with situation analysis, qualitative explorations and surveys to explore the burden of such disorders in Bangladesh.


Author(s):  
Hari Krishnan R. ◽  
Hanitha Rajasekar ◽  
Suganthi S.

Background: The whole world became still, when a major pandemic COVID-19 started its toll across all developed and developing countries. It has caused both physical and emotional disturbances among all age groups. This study was done to evaluate the parental mental health in COVID-19 as this group is not given much importance. The major mental health problems associated with COVID-19 among parents are due to online classes which has caused depression, anxiety and stress.Methods: A cross-sectional study done among all parents, especially those of whose children are attending online class were included in the study. Convenient sampling was used to select 204 participants, GHQ 12 questionnaire was used for data collection on mental health status among parents.Results: Overall prevalence of parents with better mental health <19 was 108 (52.9%) and prevalence of parents with poor mental health >19 was 96 (47.1%).Conclusions: This study concluded that parental age of 31 to 40 years who are employed and have children studying in primary school to have a poor mental health status. The most important contributing factors for poor parental health were online classes for children and work place stress.


Author(s):  
Robert Brackbill ◽  
Howard Alper ◽  
Patricia Frazier ◽  
Lisa Gargano ◽  
Melanie Jacobson ◽  
...  

Fifteen years after the disaster, the World Trade Center Health Registry (Registry) conducted The Health and Quality of Life Survey (HQoL) assessing physical and mental health status among those who reported sustaining an injury on 11 September 2001 compared with non-injured persons. Summary scores derived from the Short Form-12 served as study outcomes. United States (US) population estimates on the Physical Component Score (PCS-12) and Mental Component Score (MCS-12) were compared with scores from the HQoL and were stratified by Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and injury status. Linear regression models were used to estimate the association between both injury severity and PTSD and PCS-12 and MCS-12 scores. Level of injury severity and PTSD history significantly predicted poorer physical health (mean PCS-12). There was no significant difference between injury severity level and mental health (mean MCS-12). Controlling for other factors, having PTSD symptoms after 9/11 predicted a nearly 10-point difference in mean MCS-12 compared with never having PTSD. Injury severity and PTSD showed additive effects on physical and mental health status. Injury on 9/11 and a PTSD history were each associated with long-term decrements in physical health status. Injury did not predict long-term decrements in one’s mental health status. Although it is unknown whether physical wounds of the injury healed, our results suggest that traumatic injuries appear to have a lasting negative effect on perceived physical functioning.


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