Nivedita Sairam, Anna Buch, Marie-Luise Zenker, Lisa Dillenardt, Michaela Coenen, Annegret H. Thieken, Caroline Jung-Sievers
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Floods lead to adverse impacts not only in financial terms but also on the health of the exposed population. We report on health-related Quality of Life (QoL) and functioning in the population affected by the 2021 flooding in Germany using an empirical survey data set. Health-related QoL and functioning are represented by two scores–(a) The EuroQoL 5D Visual Analog Scale (EQ-5D VAS) and (b) The 12-Item World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0), respectively. By applying an incremental linear regression model and Machine Learning models, we infer that health-related QoL and functioning are strongly negatively related to the psychological burden from those being affected by the flooding. This includes how often they think about the traumatic event. Home owners were found to have worse QoL and functioning than tenants. Household income and the status of repair/reconstruction of flood damages—in specific, insurance benefits, private donation and satisfactory claims compensation are associated with high health-related QoL and functioning. These findings highlight the importance of strengthening the health-related QoL of flood affected populations and emphasizes the strong association between recovery and health-related QoL and functioning of flood-affected populations.
期刊介绍:
GeoHealth will publish original research, reviews, policy discussions, and commentaries that cover the growing science on the interface among the Earth, atmospheric, oceans and environmental sciences, ecology, and the agricultural and health sciences. The journal will cover a wide variety of global and local issues including the impacts of climate change on human, agricultural, and ecosystem health, air and water pollution, environmental persistence of herbicides and pesticides, radiation and health, geomedicine, and the health effects of disasters. Many of these topics and others are of critical importance in the developing world and all require bringing together leading research across multiple disciplines.