title: [Preparedness for natural disasters among older US adults: a nationwide survery].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  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 = 1 304) 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 = 1 304) 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.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiología, Escuela Universitaria de Salud Pública, Universidad de Iowa, Ciudad de Iowa, Estados Unidos de América, tala-al-rousan@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Tala M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Al-rousan
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiología, Escuela Universitaria de Salud Pública, Universidad de Iowa, Ciudad de Iowa, Estados Unidos de América, tala-al-rousan@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Linda M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Rubenstein
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Epidemiología, Escuela Universitaria de Salud Pública, Universidad de Iowa, Ciudad de Iowa, Estados Unidos de América, tala-al-rousan@uiowa.edu.
authors.forename: Robert B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Wallace
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012179:Retirement; D012494:Sampling Studies; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014186:Transportation; D014481:United States