Barriers to disaster preparedness among medical special needs populations

• Main Authors: Leslie eMeyer (Author), Kristina eVatcheva (Author), Stephanie eCastellanos (Author), Belinda eReininger (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A., 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

A medical special needs (MSN) assessment was conducted among 3088 respondents in a hurricane prone area. The sample was female (51.7%), Hispanic (92.9%), aged > 45 years (51%), not insured for health (59.2%), and with an MSN (33.2%). Barriers to preparedness were characterized for all households, including those with inhabitants reporting MSN ranging from level 0 (mild) to level 4 (most severe). Multivariable logistic regression tested associations between hurricane preparedness and barriers to evacuation by level of MSN. A significant interaction effect between number of evacuation barriers and MSN was found. Among households that reported individuals with level 0 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 18% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR=1.18, 95% CI (1.08, 1.30)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 1 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 29% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR=1.29, 95% CI (1.11, 1.51)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 3 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 68% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR=1.68, 95% CI (1.21, 1.32)]. MSN alone did not explain the probability of unpreparedness, but rather MSN in the presence of barriers helped explain unpreparedness.

Item Description

2296-2565
10.3389/fpubh.2015.00205