Katrina-Related Health Impacts on Vietnamese New Orleanians: A Longitudinal Analysis

Mark VanLandingham, Tulane University
Fran Norris, Dartmouth College and National Center for PTSD
Lung Vu, Tulane University
Hongyun Fu, Tulane University

A wide range of self-reported and objective health measures collected for a Vietnamese immigrant sample living in the greater New Orleans area just weeks before Hurricane Katrina struck possess extraordinary potential as baseline measures for investigating how immigrants fare after such disasters. We assess the short-term (1 year) effects of a natural disaster upon the health of a recent immigrant population by comparing pre-event and post-event physical and mental health assessments for working age (20-49) Vietnamese-American New Orleanians. Individuals in our sample underwent a 90-minute health assessment during June and July 2005 (n=125); the majority of these same individuals have been located and re-assessed during August and September of 2006 (current n=75 and increasing). Our working sample is these 75 individuals for whom we now have both pre- and post-event physical and mental health measures.