Severe weather-related deaths, stress, and incidence of cardiovascular ailments in U.S. community-based samples after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Michael

Abstract:

Severe weather events are becoming more frequent and/or severe due to climate change. Repeated exposure to climate-related events and concurrent individual-level adversity are stressors that may affect subsequent cardiovascular health. We examine whether location-level severe weather-related deaths in an individual’s county, a proxy for storm severity and exposure, and negative life events experienced by an individual, are associated with new onset cardiovascular health ailments over time. Community-based samples of residents from Texas (n=711), Florida (n=943), and the New York metropolitan area (n=309) completed surveys between September 2017 and October 2018 after Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Michael. Respondents also provided reports of doctor-diagnosed cardiovascular ailments before Hurricane Harvey and after Hurricane Michael. Severe weather event information (number of events, event duration, weather-related injuries, deaths, and estimated damage costs) was compiled by county from the National Centers for Environmental Information’s Storm Events Database. In generalized estimating equations analysis, increased incidence of cardiovascular ailments over time was associated with greater exposure to severe weather-related deaths over time (IRR=1.07; 95%CI, 1.01–1.12; P<.05) and recent adversity (IRR=1.08; 95%CI, 1.04 –1.12; P<0.001), controlling for covariates including endocrine ailments, BMI, age, sex, income, ethnicity, and education. Other severe weather-related exposures were not associated with cardiovascular ailments over time. Repeated exposure to severe weather-related deaths and recent adversity are associated with increased incidence of new onset cardiovascular ailments. Results highlight a link between severe weather and a key metric of human health, a potential public health concern given increasing climate hazards.