O-68 Cumulative Flood Exposure and Cardiometabolic Health in Urban Jamaica: A Cross-Sectional study

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional and ecological study using secondary data from a survey that evaluated cardiometabolic health in Jamaica between June 2018 and July 2019. Participants included persons aged ≥15 years who resided in urban communities across four parishes in Jamaica. The primary outcomes were four cardiometabolic risk markers: 1) systolic blood pressure; 2) diastolic blood pressure; 3) fasting blood glucose; and 4) total cholesterol, operationalized as continuous measures. Correlational analysis was used to assess the association between cumulative community flood exposure and age- and sex-adjusted community cardiometabolic health outcomes. The association between historical individual flood exposure (1963 to 2017) and each outcome was examined using ordinary least squares linear regression models and sequential linear mixed models.

Results: The sample consisted of 837 individuals (276 males; 561 females; mean age 47.6±18.4 years) who resided in communities that were relatively evenly distributed across categories of flood exposure (none: 24.6%; low: 30.9%; moderate: 21.6%; and high: 22.8%). No significant correlations with outcomes were revealed at the community level but the inclusion of the community clusters contributed to the variations observed in individual-level associations. Baseline mixed models showed a significant improvement in model fit when compared to ordinary linear models (p<0.001), revealing significant associations of individual flood exposure with both systolic blood pressure (b=1.72, p=0.005) and diastolic blood pressure (b=0.54, p=0.039). Final models for each outcome were built by adjusting the respective intermediate models for significant covariates. However, in the adjusted models, statistically significant associations were not retained with the main exposure.

Conclusion: Community-level differences exist in flood patterns across urban communities in Jamaica. These flood profiles may contribute to individual-level variations in urban Jamaicans’ cardiometabolic health.