2023

Author(s): Li Y, Buendia J, Sears S, Ibrahimovic M, Bertero H, Wiseman R, Bhakta N

OBJECTIVE: To estimate inpatient asthma hospital visit rates among impacted Texans in Public Health Region 6/5S during the year of and following Hurricane Harvey. METHODS: Asthma inpatient hospitalization discharges were collected from the Texas Health Care Information Collection database (2016-2019). RESULTS: Females (age-adjusted rates/AARs = 4.8-5.0) and Black Texans (AARs = 5.0-8.1) experienced significantly higher AARs compared to males and White Texans during the year of and following Harvey. During the year of Hurricane Harvey, females were 1.49 times as likely to have an inpatient asthma visit compared to males, while Black Texans were 2.78 times as likely to have an inpatient asthma hospitalization compared to White Texans. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study may assist public health professionals and local officials to allocate future resources to the most impacted subgroups as well as establish effective processes to mitigate consequences.

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1097/jom.0000000000002928