Compounding Effects of Social Vulnerability and Recurring Natural Disasters on Mental and Physical Health

The authors used census tract level data from 500 U.S. cities to model “self-reported, poor mental and physical health, or a clinical diagnosis of high blood pressure or asthma” in those that had experienced recent or recurring natural disasters from 2001-2015. They controlled for social and environmental risk factors in the study and found that communities that experienced a disaster within 5 years had poorer health outcomes compared to communities that did not.