title: Disaster management in low- and middle-income countries: scoping review of the evidence base.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Globally, there has been an increase in the prevalence and scale of disasters with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) tending to be more affected. Consequently, disaster risk reduction has been advocated as a global priority. However, the evidence base for disaster management in these settings is unclear.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study is a scoping review of the evidence base for disaster management in LMIC. Potentially relevant articles between 1990 and 2011 were searched for, assessed for relevance and subsequently categorised using a thematic coding framework based on the US Integrated Emergency Management System model.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 1545 articles identified, only 178 were from LMIC settings. Most were of less robust design such as event reports and commentaries, and 66% pertained to natural disasters. There was a paucity of articles on disaster mitigation or recovery, and more were written on disaster response and preparedness issues.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considerably more articles were published from high-income country settings that may reflect a publication bias. Current grey literature on disaster management tends not to be peer reviewed, is not well organised and not easy to access. The paucity of peer-reviewed publications compromises evidence review initiatives that seek to provide an evidence-base for disaster management in LMIC. As such, there is an urgent need for greater research and publication of findings on disaster management issues from these settings.
authors.affiliation: The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK West Yorkshire Health Protection Team, Public Health England, Leeds, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew Chee Keng
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Booth
authors.affiliation: The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Kirsty
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Challen
authors.affiliation: The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gardois
authors.affiliation: Medical Care Research Unit, The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK.
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goodacre
mesh_terms: D003906:Developing Countries; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004635:Emergency Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Disasters; disaster planning; evidence based emergency medicine