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Peer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0BMC Public Health

Compound disasters and adolescent mental health: increased primary health care demand after the overlap of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rainfall disaster in Brazil

  • Júlia Aparecida Procópio1
  • Marco Aurélio de Sousa2
  • Janaina Soares3,4
  • Márcia Christina Caetano Romano5
  • Ed Wilson Rodrigues Vieira6
6 affiliations
  1. 1School of Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG Brazil
  2. 2School of Nursing, Department of Maternal-Child Nursing and Public Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil
  3. 3Igarapé, Brazil
  4. 4School of Nursing, Department of Applied Nursing, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG Brazil
  5. 5Universidade Federal de São João Del-Rei, Rua Belvedere 530, Manoel Valinhas, Divinópolis, MG CEP 35500287 Brazil
  6. 6School of Nursing, Department of Maternal-Child Nursing and Public Health, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Avenida Professor Alfredo Balena, 190 room 418 – School of Nursing, Federal, Belo Horizonte, MG 30190-000 Brazil
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Abstract

Background: Biological and meteorological disasters can have negative impacts on the mental health of adolescents. However, little is known about the impact of overlapping disasters. The objective of this study was to analyze changes in mental health consultations among adolescents following overlapping biological and meteorological disasters.

Methods: The overlap studied occurred in February 2022, when Petrópolis, Brazil, suffered a meteorological disaster related to rainfall during the biological disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data consisted of the number of visits by adolescents aged 10 to 17 years in which the problem or condition evaluated involved mental health diagnoses in the municipality’s Primary Health Care (PHC) services. The monthly rates of health care usage were measured by municipality over the six months following the overlap period, which spanned from February to July 2022. These rates were then compared with those from the first six months of the biological disaster (March–August 2020) and with the same period prior to the disaster (February–July 2018–2019). The Mann–Whitney U test and percentage differences were used to analyze these comparisons.

Results: A total of 2,591 visits were analyzed, with 36.4% occurring after the overlap. Just over half of the consultations were for male adolescents (54.1%), and most were for adolescents aged 10 to 13 years (64.1%). Consultation rates, by sex and age, were higher after the overlap when compared with the periods before and during the pandemic (p < 0.05). The relative increase in rates was 166.2% higher than in the pre-disaster period and 318.4% higher than during the first six months of the pandemic among older male adolescents aged 14 to 17 years (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: The overlap of biological and meteorological disasters changes adolescents’ demand for mental health care in PHC. Preparing for and coping with the impacts of disasters must consider the additional pressure on the health system imposed by the mental health needs of affected adolescents.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{procopio2026compound,
  title = {{Compound disasters and adolescent mental health: increased primary health care demand after the overlap of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rainfall disaster in Brazil}},
  author = {Júlia Aparecida Procópio and Marco Aurélio de Sousa and Janaina Soares and Márcia Christina Caetano Romano and Ed Wilson Rodrigues Vieira},
  journal = {BMC Public Health},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y},
  note = {CC BY-NC-ND 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Compound disasters and adolescent mental health: increased primary health care demand after the overlap of the COVID-19 pandemic and a rainfall disaster in Brazil
AU  - Júlia Aparecida Procópio
AU  - Marco Aurélio de Sousa
AU  - Janaina Soares
AU  - Márcia Christina Caetano Romano
AU  - Ed Wilson Rodrigues Vieira
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/31
JO  - BMC Public Health
DO  - 10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y
AB  - Background: Biological and meteorological disasters can have negative impacts on the mental health of adolescents. However, little is known about the impact of overlapping disasters. The objective of this study was to analyze changes in mental health consultations among adolescents following overlapping biological and meteorological disasters.  Methods: The overlap studied occurred in February 2022, when Petrópolis, Brazil, suffered a meteorological disaster related to rainfall during the biological disaster of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data consisted of the number of visits by adolescents aged 10 to 17 years in which the problem or condition evaluated involved mental health diagnoses in the municipality’s Primary Health Care (PHC) services. The monthly rates of health care usage were measured by municipality over the six months following the overlap period, which spanned from February to July 2022. These rates were then compared with those from the first six months of the biological disaster (March–August 2020) and with the same period prior to the disaster (February–July 2018–2019). The Mann–Whitney U test and percentage differences were used to analyze these comparisons.  Results: A total of 2,591 visits were analyzed, with 36.4% occurring after the overlap. Just over half of the consultations were for male adolescents (54.1%), and most were for adolescents aged 10 to 13 years (64.1%). Consultation rates, by sex and age, were higher after the overlap when compared with the periods before and during the pandemic (p < 0.05). The relative increase in rates was 166.2% higher than in the pre-disaster period and 318.4% higher than during the first six months of the pandemic among older male adolescents aged 14 to 17 years (p < 0.05).  Conclusion: The overlap of biological and meteorological disasters changes adolescents’ demand for mental health care in PHC. Preparing for and coping with the impacts of disasters must consider the additional pressure on the health system imposed by the mental health needs of affected adolescents.  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-026-28331-y.
SN  - 1471-2458
ER  -