Measuring Historic and Longitudinal Social Vulnerability in Disaster-Prone Communities: A Modification to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Social Vulnerability Index (CDC-SVI).
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
; 17: e368, 2023 02 20.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2248065
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
Researchers have developed numerous indices to identify vulnerable sub-populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) is the most common and highly serviceable, but it has some temporal limitations considering that some variables used in calculating the CDC-SVI were not available before 1980. Changes in societal composition over time can impact social vulnerability. This study defines an alternate, but similar, index that could serve as a surrogate for the CDC-SVI without the temporal limitations.METHODS:
An inventory analysis of the historical census data (1960-2018) was used to develop a Modified SVI that allows for historic analyses. To consider the chronic effect of social vulnerabilities, a longitudinal SVI was introduced to elucidate how a community's multidimensional experiences exacerbate vulnerability to disaster events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We use Harris County, Texas, in this case study to examine how the Modified SVI performs against the original CDC-SVI.RESULTS:
This Modified SVI was used to generate historical maps, find temporal patterns, and inform a longitudinal SVI measure. The results showed a good agreement among the developed indices and the CDC-SVI. We also observed satisfactory performance in identifying the areas that are most vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.CONCLUSIONS:
The Modified SVI overcomes temporal limitations associated with the CDC-SVI, and the longitudinal SVI captures a community's multidimensional experiences that exacerbate a community's vulnerability to disaster events over time.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Disasters
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
Disaster Med Public Health Prep
Journal subject:
Public Health
Year:
2023
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Dmp.2023.29
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