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A Promising Tool to Assess Long Term Public Health Effects of Natural Disasters: Combining Routine Health Survey Data and Geographic Information Systems to Assess Stunting after the 2001 Earthquake in Peru

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  • Henny Rydberg
  • Gaetano Marrone
  • Susanne Strömdahl
  • Johan von Schreeb

Abstract

Background: Research on long-term health effects of earthquakes is scarce, especially in low- and middle-income countries, which are disproportionately affected by disasters. To date, progress in this area has been hampered by the lack of tools to accurately measure these effects. Here, we explored whether long-term public health effects of earthquakes can be assessed using a combination of readily available data sources on public health and geographic distribution of seismic activity. Methods: We used childhood stunting as a proxy for public health effects. Data on stunting were attained from Demographic and Health Surveys. Earthquake data were obtained from U.S. Geological Survey’s ShakeMaps, geographic information system-based maps that divide earthquake affected areas into different shaking intensity zones. We combined these two data sources to categorize the surveyed children into different earthquake exposure groups, based on how much their area of residence was affected by the earthquake. We assessed the feasibility of the approach using a real earthquake case – an 8.4 magnitude earthquake that hit southern Peru in 2001. Results and conclusions: Our results indicate that the combination of health survey data and disaster data may offer a readily accessible and accurate method for determining the long-term public health consequences of a natural disaster. Our work allowed us to make pre- and post- earthquake comparisons of stunting, an important indicator of the well-being of a society, as well as comparisons between populations with different levels of exposure to the earthquake. Furthermore, the detailed GIS based data provided a precise and objective definition of earthquake exposure. Our approach should be considered in future public health and disaster research exploring the long-term effects of earthquakes and potentially other natural disasters.

Suggested Citation

  • Henny Rydberg & Gaetano Marrone & Susanne Strömdahl & Johan von Schreeb, 2015. "A Promising Tool to Assess Long Term Public Health Effects of Natural Disasters: Combining Routine Health Survey Data and Geographic Information Systems to Assess Stunting after the 2001 Earthquake in," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(6), pages 1-11, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0130889
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0130889
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Carter, Michael R. & Little, Peter D. & Mogues, Tewodaj & Negatu, Workneh, 2007. "Poverty Traps and Natural Disasters in Ethiopia and Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 835-856, May.
    2. Peter Simonsen, 2012. "Earthquakes and Economic Growth," Development Research Working Paper Series 01/2012, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    3. Debarati Guha-Sapir & Jose Rodriguez-Llanes & Thomas Jakubicka, 2011. "Using disaster footprints, population databases and GIS to overcome persistent problems for human impact assessment in flood events," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 58(3), pages 845-852, September.
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    1. Mario J. Valladares-Garrido & Luis E. Zapata-Castro & Christopher G. Valdiviezo-Morales & Abigaíl García-Vicente & Darwin A. León-Figueroa & Raúl Calle-Preciado & Virgilio E. Failoc-Rojas & César Joha, 2022. "Factors Associated with Knowledge of Evacuation Routes and Having an Emergency Backpack in Individuals Affected by a Major Earthquake in Piura, Peru," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(22), pages 1-15, November.

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