Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Nov-Dec;138(6):944-954.
doi: 10.1177/00333549221148169. Epub 2023 Jan 26.

Factors Associated With Poor Health Outcomes Among Vietnamese Americans After Hurricane Harvey, Houston, Texas, 2018-2019

NhuNgoc K Pham  1 , Mai Do  2 , Jannette Diep  3
Affiliations

Factors Associated With Poor Health Outcomes Among Vietnamese Americans After Hurricane Harvey, Houston, Texas, 2018-2019

NhuNgoc K Pham et al. Public Health Rep. 2023 Nov-Dec.

Abstract

Objective: Immigrants typically experience poor health outcomes after disasters but are often excluded in disaster studies. We assessed physical and mental health outcomes among Houston-area Vietnamese American residents after Hurricane Harvey and hurricane-related characteristics associated with poor health outcomes.

Methods: We conducted in-person structured surveys among 120 Vietnamese Americans from November 2018 through February 2019. We used the physical and mental component scores of the 12-Item Short-Form Health Survey to assess health outcomes. We used descriptive statistics for health outcomes and hurricane-related effects and examined the associations between hurricane-related characteristics and health outcomes.

Results: Overall mean (95% CI) physical and mental component scores were 39.8 (29.7-49.9) and 32.6 (27.6-37.6), respectively. The odds of poor physical health poststorm were significantly higher among participants reporting ≥5 versus <5 depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR] = 3.04; 95% CI, 1.11-8.29; P = .03) and significantly lower among participants with versus without health insurance (OR = 0.25; 95% CI, 0.09-0.71; P = .01). The odds of experiencing poor mental health more than a year after the hurricane were significantly higher among those sustaining versus not sustaining a serious injury/illness because of the hurricane (OR = 3.34; 95% CI, 1.12-9.94; P = .03) and among those who were married/partnered versus not married/partnered (OR = 4.16; 95% CI, 1.32-13.07; P = .02). Receiving versus not receiving free health care services after the hurricane and having high versus low levels of acculturation protected against poor mental health (P < .05 for both).

Conclusions: Our findings highlight the inequalities of postdisaster health outcomes in this immigrant population and emphasize the need for improved disaster recovery programs that account for these factors.

Keywords: Hurricane Harvey; Vietnamese American; disaster; health disparities; immigrants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

References

    1. Flores AB, Collins TW, Grineski SE, Chakraborty J. Disparities in health effects and access to health care among Houston area residents after Hurricane Harvey. Public Health Rep. 2020;135(4):511-523. doi:10.1177/0033354920930133 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Moravec ER. Texas officials: Hurricane Harvey death toll at 82, “mass casualties have absolutely not happened.” The Washington Post. September 14, 2017. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/texas-officials-hurricane-harvey...
    1. Federal Emergency Management Agency. Historic disaster response to Hurricane Harvey in Texas. Press release. September 22, 2017. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20210318/historic-disaster-response-h...
    1. Brasier R, Thompson J. FEMA to play long-term role in recovery from Harvey. Southwest Economy. 2018(Q2):15-17.
    1. Blake ES, Zelinsky DA. National Hurricane Center tropical cyclone report: Hurricane Harvey (17 August–1 September 2017). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. January 23, 2018. Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=807581

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources