The coronavirus pandemic’s life-altering effects are likely to result in lasting physical and mental health consequences for many people—particularly those from vulnerable populations—a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health finds.
The coronavirus pandemic’s life-altering effects are likely to result in lasting physical and mental health consequences for many people—particularly those from vulnerable populations—a new study led by the Yale School of Public Health finds.
Assistant Professor Sarah Lowe and colleagues studied low-income women from New Orleans who were surveyed the year prior to, and at intervals after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005. The women reported a range of traumatic experiences during Katrina, many of which are similar to those now occurring during the pandemic, including bereavement, lack of access to medical care and scarcity of medications.
The research showed that at one, four and 12 years after the hurricane, the exposures most strongly associated with posttraumatic stress, psychological distress, general health and physical health symptoms were those most common to the current pandemic. The pandemic continues to cause widespread death and sickness, as well as job loss and severe economic hardship for many.
“This pandemic is likely to have profound short- and long-term consequences for physical and mental health,” said Lowe. “These impacts are likely to be even larger than what we have seen in previous disasters like Hurricane Katrina, given the distinctive qualities of the pandemic as a disaster.”
Read more at Yale School of Public Health
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