title: Social and mental health needs assessment of Katrina evacuees.
abstract: Hurricane Katrina made landfall along the Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm on August 29, 2005. Many residents were evacuated to neighboring cities owing to massive destruction. Working with the City of Houston Health Department, researchers conducted a medical and psychological needs assessment of 124 Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Houston shelters from September 4-12, 2005. Among those willing to talk about their experiences, 41% were afraid they would die, 16% saw someone close to them injured or die, 17% saw violence, and 6% directly experienced physical violence. When using a version of the Impact of Stress Experiences scale, the majority of evacuees scored as experiencing moderate (38.6%) to severe (23.9%) post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms. These data suggest that in addition to challenges in finding loved ones, housing, and jobs, many Katrina survivors have experienced significant psychological trauma that may lead to future PTSD.
authors.affiliation: School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA. Ann.L.Coker@uth.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Ann L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Coker
authors.forename: Jeanne S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hanks
authors.forename: Katherine S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Eggleston
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Risser
authors.forename: P Grace
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Tee
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Chronister
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Troisi
authors.forename: Raouf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Arafat
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Franzini
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008145:Louisiana; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008875:Middle Aged; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011157:Population Dynamics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011203:Poverty; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012066:Relief Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013781:Texas; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology