title: The effect of Hurricane Sandy on cardiovascular events in New Jersey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New Jersey (NJ) on October 29, 2012. We studied the impact of this extreme weather event on the incidence of, and 30-day mortality from, cardiovascular (CV) events (CVEs), including myocardial infarctions (MI) and strokes, in NJ.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were obtained from the MI data acquisition system (MIDAS), a database of all inpatient hospital discharges with CV diagnoses in NJ, including death certificates. Patients were grouped by their county of residence, and each county was categorized as either high- (41.5% of the NJ population) or low-impact area based on data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other sources. We utilized Poisson regression comparing the 2 weeks following Sandy landfall with the same weeks from the 5 previous years. In addition, we used CVE data from the 2 weeks previous in each year as to adjust for yearly changes. In the high-impact area, MI incidence increased by 22%, compared to previous years (attributable rate ratio [ARR], 1.22; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16, 1.28), with a 31% increase in 30-day mortality (ARR, 1.31; 95% CI, 1.22, 1.41). The incidence of stroke increased by 7% (ARR, 1.07; 95% CI, 1.03, 1.11), with no significant change in 30-day stroke mortality. There were no changes in incidence or 30-day mortality of MI or stroke in the low-impact area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the 2 weeks following Hurricane Sandy, there were increases in the incidence of, and 30-day mortality from, MI and in the incidence of stroke.
authors.affiliation: The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ (J.N.S., N.M.C., J.B.K.) Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ (J.N.S., T.M.J.).
authors.forename: Joel N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Swerdel
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Rutgers University School of Public Health, Piscataway, NJ (J.N.S., T.M.J.).
authors.forename: Teresa M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Janevic
authors.affiliation: The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ (J.N.S., N.M.C., J.B.K.).
authors.forename: Nora M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Cosgrove
authors.affiliation: The Cardiovascular Institute at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ (J.N.S., N.M.C., J.B.K.).
authors.forename: John B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Kostis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002423:Cause of Death; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D016208:Databases, Factual; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D020521:Stroke / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: cardiovascular diseases; epidemiology; myocardial Infarction; stroke