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TUESDAY, Sept. 24, 2019 (HealthDay News) — Living through a hurricane increases both the short- and long-term risk for death among seniors with diabetes, according to a study published online Sept. 23 in Diabetes Care<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Troy Quast, Ph.D., from the University of South Florida in Tampa, and colleagues retrospectively analyzed Medicare enrollment and claims data to estimate the long-term mortality effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on seniors with diabetes.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that affected seniors had a nearly 40 percent higher all-cause mortality risk in the first month after the storms, but the difference fell to <6 percent by the end of the 10-year observation period. The largest mortality risks immediately after the storms came from heart disease and nephritis. The all-cause mortality risk was higher for affected seniors who moved to a different county, with an especially large difference seen among those who moved to an affected county.<\/p>\n
“Our findings highlight the importance of the immediate response to disasters, yet also demonstrate the long-lasting impact disasters can have,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
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