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标题：Preparedness for Natural Disasters Among Older US Adults: A Nationwide Survey
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作者：Tala M. Al-rousan ; Linda M. Rubenstein ; Robert B. Wallace 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2014
卷号：104
期号：3
页码：506-511
DOI：10.2105/AJPH.2013.301559
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：Objectives. We sought to determine natural disaster preparedness levels among older US adults and assess factors that may adversely affect health and safety during such incidents. Methods. We sampled adults aged 50 years or older (n = 1304) from the 2010 interview survey of the Health and Retirement Study. The survey gathered data on general demographic characteristics, disability status or functional limitations, and preparedness-related factors and behaviors. We calculated a general disaster preparedness score by using individual indicators to assess overall preparedness. Results. Participant (n = 1304) mean age was 70 years (SD = 9.3). Only 34.3% reported participating in an educational program or reading materials about disaster preparation. Nearly 15% reported using electrically powered medical devices that might be at risk in a power outage. The preparedness score indicated that increasing age, physical disability, and lower educational attainment and income were independently and significantly associated with worse overall preparedness. Conclusions. Despite both greater vulnerability to disasters and continuous growth in the number of older US adults, many of the substantial problems discovered are remediable and require attention in the clinical, public health, and emergency management sectors of society. Each of the past few years has witnessed more natural disasters than any year on record, costing billions of dollars, according to the US National Climatic Data Center. 1 President Obama declared a record number of federally designated natural disasters in 2011, more in the first 3 years of his presidency than almost any other presidents in their full 4-year terms. 2 In 2012, insured economic losses from severe weather-related catastrophes in the United States totaled $57.9 billion. 2 We continue to experience aberrant climatic and geologic phenomena that can jeopardize older adults and disproportionately affect them. 3 Three quarters of those who perished in Hurricane Katrina in 2005 were aged older than 60 years. 4 Natural disasters, such as the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in 2012, continue to occur and impose serious aftermaths on older persons. 5,6 Having the highest prevalence rates for multiple chronic conditions, limitations in activities of daily living (ADLs) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), physical and cognitive disabilities, and sensory impairments makes older adults particularly vulnerable to physiological stresses during natural disasters. 7 However, most fatalities, injuries, and damage caused by natural disasters, such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes, are preventable. 8 Preparing older adults for disasters by following certain precautionary measures and designing comprehensive disaster management plans can alleviate some proportion of the physical, social, and emotional damage that occurs in these situations. But an important public health question is, How prepared are older US adults for natural disasters? We report the results of a survey of older Americans, part of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), an ongoing nationwide panel study of the health, social, and economic status among persons, conducted by the University of Michigan. 9