Background:
Although research has found a relationship between population displacement and the spread of HIV from central to multiple locations, little is known about the impact of displacement on sexual behavior and reproductive health care. Hurricane Katrina caused rapid displacement of over a million persons in metropolitan New Orleans including 164 young women originally recruited to participate in a vaginal douching study.

Objective:
To describe changes in sexual behavior and access to care pre- and post-rapid displacement resulting from Hurricane Katrina among a cohort of young women receiving reproductive health care prior to displacement.

Method:
Women 16-24 years old previously enrolled in a CDC funded vaginal douching study (N=164) were contacted five months post-Katrina for telephone interviews.

Result:
Of 164 displaced women, 55 were located and interviewed; 36% evacuated after the storm and 85.4% since stayed at ≥3 places. Since Katrina, 29.1% needed health care but did not access it; 32.7% will seek needed services outside of New Orleans and 43.6% were unclear where they would go for future health care. Sixteen percent said they had had a vaginal smell or unusual discharge since evacuating with almost half self-treating or doing nothing. Post-Katrina, 40% attended family planning services, but 41.5% were not using any form of birth control. Post-storm, 10.4% reported a new sex partner. More women became pregnant post-Katrina compared to pre-Katrina (7.3% vs. 1.8%, P=0.16). The percentage reporting more than one sex partner decreased significantly post-Katrina (25.5% vs. 9.1%, P < 0.005).

Conclusion:
While there was new partner acquisition and increased pregnancy among young women displaced by the storm, the percentage of women with multiple partners decreased. Sexual behaviors changed during displacement while access to reproductive health care decreased significantly.

Implications:
A better system for continuity of reproductive care among rapidly displaced persons in the U.S. is needed.