Researchers presented the two papers on their findings April 16-19 at the Population Association of America’s annual meeting in New Orleans.

Both of the papers relate to how survivors of Hurricane Katrina dealt with the stress of the disaster. In the first paper, “The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Socioeconomic Disparities in Alcohol Use,” researchers found that overall, Katrina survivors were more than three times more likely to exhibit alcohol abuse after a stress experience. Survivors who experienced trauma were five times more likely to become alcohol dependent.

The difference between a stress and a trauma is a matter of degree, said Sandro Galea, associate professor in the University of Michigan School of Public Health and co-author of both papers. Galea also is a research affiliate at the Population Studies Center of the Institute of Social Research. An example of a stressor might be dealing with insurance companies or contractors, while an example of a trauma is losing a loved one.

Researchers looked at the contribution of exposure to Katrina to alcohol binge drinking, and socioeconomic differences in the association between exposures to Katrina and binge drinking. They used data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics collected in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama.

In the second paper, “Financial and Social Circumstances and the Incidence and Course of PTSD in Mississippi during the First Two Years after Hurricane Katrina,” researchers interviewed 810 people in the 23 southernmost counties of Mississippi. The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder after Katrina was more than 22 percent.

In the second study, researchers showed three novel observations: there was a 50 percent or more increased burden of PTSD among Mississippi Katrina survivors than is typical in disaster areas; ongoing stressors and traumatic events were primarily associated with the risk of PTSD; and stressors and traumatic events were associated with both the incidence and the course of PTSD post-disaster.

“This work strongly suggests that reducing the stressors that disaster survivors face can reduce the public health burden of these events,” Galea said. “Post-disaster reconstruction efforts become very much public health efforts and need to be recognized as essential to promote health.”

Story courtesy University of Michigan, April 18, 2008. This story does not include original reporting by The Nation’s Health staff.

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