A map of New Orleans block groups showing significant clusters of hospitalizations for substance abuse disorders in 2004 (pre-Katrina). The most likely cluster was the New Orleans East area (316 block groups); it had a relative risk of 0.38 compared with the city as a whole. The next highest was central New Orleans with a relative risk of 1.83.

Figure 1. Pre-Katrina significant clusters of hospitalizations for substance abuse disorders at the block group level calculated by using the discrete Poisson model with sex and age group as covariates, New Orleans, 2004. The most likely cluster (the cluster least likely to be due to chance) was the New Orleans East area with 316 block groups and a relative risk of .38 compared with the city as a whole. The next highest was central New Orleans with a relative risk of 1.83.

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A map showing 4 significant clusters of hospitalizations for substance abuse disorders in New Orleans after Katrina (2008). Geographic patterns of hospitalizations shifted post-Katrina to the eastern corner of Mid-City (the neighborhood bordering the French Quarter and Central Business District) the Lower 9th Ward, Algiers, and the southeast corner of the Mid-City planning districts.

Figure 2. Clusters of hospitalizations for substance abuse disorders at the block group level calculated by using the discrete Poisson model with sex and age group as covariates, New Orleans, 2008. The most likely cluster was the eastern corner of Mid-City (relative risk [RR] 831.23). The next highest, in order, were the north corner of the Lower 9th Ward (RR = 11.91), Algiers (RR = 0.40), and the southeast corner of Mid-City (RR = 23.38).

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