Abstract
Objectives
To assess changes in mental health and social risk factors in pregnant women in counties affected by Hurricane Michael (October 2018).
Methods
Data from the Universal Perinatal Risk Screen (UPRS) and vital statistics for the state of Florida were obtained. Prenatal risk factors (unplanned pregnancy, mental health services, high stress, use of tobacco or alcohol, young children at home or with special needs, trouble paying bills) were compared in the year before and year after Hurricane Michael in affected counties (n = 18,887). Log-Poisson regression with robust variance was used for binary outcomes, adjusting for maternal age, race, BMI, and education.
Results
A smaller proportion of pregnant women were screened in the months after the hurricane. No changes were seen in overall scores. The proportion referred was lower in the 1 month after Michael compared to that in 1 month before Michael (RR 0.78, 95% CI = 0.71, 0.86), but greater in the year after (RR = 1.07, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.10). Most individual risk factors on the screener did not change significantly, except having an illness that required ongoing medical care was less common in the short term (3 months after vs. 3 months before: aRR = 0.76, 95% CI: 0.66, 0.87), and more common in the longer term (1 year after vs. 1 year before, aRR = 1.09, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.18). Birth certificate data suggested smoking during pregnancy was higher among women who experienced Michael during their pregnancies (aRR = 1.15, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.32).
Discussion
Perinatal screening and referral declined in the short-term aftermath of Hurricane Michael.
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Data Availability
The data were provided to the authors by the Florida Department of Health. We thank Daniel Irwin and the Florida Department of Health for facilitating access to vital statistics. Any published findings and conclusions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Florida Department of Health.
Code Availability
Not applicable.
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This project was supported by National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences grant R21ES031020 to EWH and ML.
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EWH: Conceptualization, writing – original draft, formal analysis, project administration. KP: Formal analysis, data curation. LB: Conceptualization, validation. ML: Supervision, funding acquisition. CT: Conceptualization, validation. All authors: writing- review and editing.
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Harville, E., Pan, K., Beitsch, L. et al. Hurricane Michael and Adverse Social and Mental Health Risk Factors. Matern Child Health J 27, 680–689 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03596-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-023-03596-6