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Rates of Hospitalization for Dehydration Following Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 December 2015

Joel N. Swerdel ,
George G. Rhoads ,
Nora M. Cosgrove ,
John B. Kostis  and
for the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS 25) Study Group
Joel N. Swerdel*
Affiliation:
The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey.
George G. Rhoads
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, New Jersey.
Nora M. Cosgrove
Affiliation:
The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
John B. Kostis
Affiliation:
The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Joel N. Swerdel, 125 Paterson Street, Suite 5200, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 (e-mail: joel.swerdel@rutgers.edu).
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Abstract

Objective

Hurricane Sandy, one of the most destructive natural disasters in New Jersey history, made landfall on October 29, 2012. Prolonged loss of electrical power and extensive infrastructure damage restricted access for many to food and water. We examined the rate of dehydration in New Jersey residents after Hurricane Sandy.

Methods

We obtained data from 2008 to 2012 from the Myocardial Infarction Data Acquisition System (MIDAS), a repository of in-patient records from nonfederal New Jersey hospitals (N=517,355). Patients with dehydration had ICD-9-CM discharge diagnosis codes for dehydration, volume depletion, and/or hypovolemia. We used log-linear modeling to estimate the change in in-patient hospitalizations for dehydration comparing 2 weeks after Sandy with the same period in the previous 4 years (2008–2011).

Results

In-patient hospitalizations for dehydration were 66% higher after Sandy than in 2008–2011 (rate ratio [RR]: 1.66; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.50, 1.84). Hospitalizations for dehydration in patients over 65 years of age increased by nearly 80% after Sandy compared with 2008–2011 (RR: 1.79; 95% CI: 1.58, 2.02).

Conclusion

Sandy was associated with a marked increase in hospitalizations for dehydration. Reducing the rate of dehydration following extreme weather events is an important public health concern that needs to be addressed, especially in those over 65 years of age. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:188–192)

Keywords

dehydrationextreme weathercardiovascularmyocardial infarctionhurricane
Type
Brief Reports
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 10 , Issue 2 , April 2016 , pp. 188 - 192
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2015 

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