Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7fkt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T18:07:45.776Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Long-term Effects of Disasters on Health Care Utilization: Hurricane Katrina and Older Individuals with Diabetes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 January 2019

Troy Quast  and
Lijuan Feng
Troy Quast*
Affiliation:
College of Public Health, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
Lijuan Feng
Affiliation:
Department of Economics, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Troy Quast, University of South Florida, College of Public Health, 13201 Bruce B Downs Blvd, MDC 56, Tampa, FL 33612 (e-mail: [email protected]).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objective

While the short-term effects of disasters on health care utilization are well documented, less is known regarding potential longer-term effects. This study investigates the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the health care utilization of older individuals with diabetes.

Methods

We examined Medicare claims and enrollment data for the 2002-2004 and 2006-2008 time periods for older individuals with diabetes. Our quasi-experimental design analyzed utilization across 2 treated and 3 control groups. We compared the proportion of individuals who received a screen related to diabetes before and after Katrina in the treated groups to the proportions in the control groups. Our regression analysis employs individual and year fixed effects to control for factors specific to a given individual or to a given year.

Results

We found that utilization rates in the 2002-2004 period exhibited roughly parallel trends for the treated and control groups, which provides support for our research design. The 2006-2008 utilization rates were generally lower for the treated groups than they were for the control groups. The differences were especially pronounced for older age cohorts.

Conclusions

Our study suggests that the effects of disasters on health care utilization may persist for years after the event. Recovery efforts may be improved by addressing both short-term and long-term health care interruptions. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2019;13:724–731)

Keywords

hurricaneMedicarediabetesadministrative datahealth care utilization
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 13 , Issue 4 , August 2019 , pp. 724 - 731
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Quast, T, Mortensen, K. Diabetes care provided to children displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2015;9(5):480-483.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kopp, JB, Ball, LK, Cohen, A, et al. Kidney patient care in disasters: lessons from the hurricanes and earthquake of 2005. CJASN. 2007;2(4):814-824.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Velez-Valle, EM, Shendell, D, Echeverria, S, et al. Type II diabetes emergency room visits associated with Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey: implications for preparedness. J Environ Health. 2016;79(2):30.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, DC, Gupta, VK, Carr, BG, et al. Acute post-disaster medical needs of patients with diabetes: emergency department use in New York City by diabetic adults after Hurricane Sandy. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2016;4(1):e000248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Polusny, MA, Ries, BJ, Schultz, JR, et al. PTSD symptom clusters associated with physical health and health care utilization in rural primary care patients exposed to natural disaster. J Trauma Stress. 2008;21(1):75-82.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Druss, B, Henderson, K, Rosenheck, R. Swept away: use of general medical and mental health services among veterans displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Am J Psychiatry. 2007;164(1):154-156.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jhung, M, Shehab, N, Rohrallegrini, C, et al. Chronic disease and disasters: medication demands of Hurricane Katrina evacuees. Am J Prev Med. 2007;33(3):207-210.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Quast, T. Healthcare utilization by children with asthma displaced by Hurricane Katrina. J Asthma. 2018;55(4):416-423.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thethi, TK, Yau, CL, Shi, L, et al. Time to recovery in diabetes and comorbidities following Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2010;4(suppl S1):S33-S38.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Inui, A, Kitaoka, H, Majima, M, et al. Effect of the Kobe earthquake on stress and glycemic control in patients with diabetes mellitus. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(3):274-278.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nishikawa, Y, Fukuda, Y, Tsubokura, M, et al. Managing type 2 diabetes mellitus through periodical hospital visits in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake disaster: a retrospective case series. PLoS One. 2015;10(5):e0125632.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ogawa, S, Ishiki, M, Nako, K, et al. Effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake and huge tsunami on glycaemic control and blood pressure in patients with diabetes mellitus. BMJ Open. 2012;2(2):e000830.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fonseca, VA, Smith, H, Kuhadiya, N, et al. Impact of a natural disaster on diabetes exacerbation of disparities and long-term consequences. Dia Care. 2009;32(9):1632-1638.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kutner, NG, Muntner, P, Huang, Y, et al. Effect of Hurricane Katrina on the mortality of dialysis patients. Kidney Int. 2009;76(7):760-766.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blake, ES, Landsea, CW, Gibney, EJ, et al. The deadliest, costliest, and most intense United States tropical cyclones from 1851 to 2006 (and other frequently requested hurricane facts). NOAA/National Weather Service, National Centers for Environmental Prediction, National Hurricane Center. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/www/images/tbw/1921/DeadliestHurricanes.pdf. Published 2007. Accessed May 27, 2017.Google Scholar
Groen, J, Polivka, A. Hurricane Katrina evacuees: who they are, where they are, and how they are faring. Mon Labor Rev Online. 2007;131:32-51.Google Scholar
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fact Sheet: Individual Assistance Program. https://www.fema.gov/-media-library-data/1502462481273e60375f24bc71e1d3efd6fa18249c54e/FACTSHEET-IndividualAssistance.pdf. Published May 2007. Accessed September 19, 2017.Google Scholar
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Fact Sheet: Public Assistance Program. Undated. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1497559657642-a01f6ee60e25394fa9a25cae2fd289d5/PublicAssistance-FactSheetJune2017.pdf. Accessed September 19, 2017.Google Scholar
Velez-Valle, EM, Shendell, D, Echeverria, S, et al. Type II diabetes emergency room visits associated with Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey: implications for preparedness. J Environ Health. 2016;79(2):30.Google ScholarPubMed
Lee, DC, Gupta, VK, Carr, BG, et al. Acute post-disaster medical needs of patients with diabetes: emergency department use in New York City by diabetic adults after Hurricane Sandy. BMJ Open Diabetes Res Care. 2016;4(1):e000248.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walldorf, JA, Joseph, P, Valles, JS, et al. Recovery of HIV service provision post-earthquake. AIDS. 2012;26(11):1431-1436.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Puttkammer, NH, Zeliadt, SB, Balan, JG, et al. Before and after the earthquake: a case study of attrition from the HIV antiretroviral therapy program in Haiti. Global Health Action. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4124816/. Published 2014. Accessed April 26, 2018.Google Scholar
Sharma, AJ, Weiss, EC, Young, SL, et al. Chronic disease and related conditions at emergency treatment facilities in the New Orleans area after Hurricane Katrina. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2008;2(01):27-32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jason, B, Mark, D, Ilyana, K, et al. How does risk selection respond to risk adjustment? New evidence from the Medicare Advantage Program. Am Econ Rev. 2014;104(10):3335-3364.Google Scholar
Seyedin, H, Zaboli, R, Raviaghi, H. Major incident experience and preparedness in a developing country. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2013;7(3):313-318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Quast and Feng supplementary material

Appendix Table 1
Download Quast and Feng supplementary material(File)
File 13.7 KB
Supplementary material: File

Quast and Feng supplementary material

Appendix Table 2

Download Quast and Feng supplementary material(File)
File 17.1 KB
Supplementary material: File

Quast and Feng supplementary material

Appendix Table 3

Download Quast and Feng supplementary material(File)
File 19.5 KB