title: A Sex Disparity Among Earthquake Victims.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Understanding who is most vulnerable during an earthquake will help health care responders prepare for future disasters. We analyzed the demography of casualties from the Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand.
  
  
  METHODS
  The demography of the total deceased, injured, and hospitalized casualties of the Christchurch earthquake was compared with that of the greater Christchurch population, the Christchurch central business district working population, and patients who presented to the single acute emergency department on the same month and day over the prior 10 years. Sex data were compared to scene of injury, context of injury, clinical characteristics of injury, and injury severity scores.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Significantly more females than males were injured or killed in the entire population of casualties (P20% were injured at commercial or service localities (444/2032 males [22%]; 1105/4627 females [24%]). Adults aged between 20 and 69 years (1639/2032 males [81%]; 3717/4627 females [80%]) were most frequently injured.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Where people were and what they were doing at the time of the earthquake influenced their risk of injury.
authors.affiliation: 1University of Otago,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ardagh
authors.affiliation: 2Auckland University,Auckland,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Standring
authors.affiliation: 3Canterbury District Health Board,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Joanne M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Deely
authors.affiliation: 4Joint Centre for Disaster Research,GNS Science,Massey University,Wellington,New Zealand.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Johnston
authors.affiliation: 5Christchurch Hospital,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Viki
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Robinson
authors.affiliation: 2Auckland University,Auckland,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Pauline
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gulliver
authors.affiliation: 1University of Otago,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.affiliation: 6Christchurch Emergency Care Foundation,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Alieke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dierckx
authors.affiliation: 5Christchurch Hospital,Christchurch,New Zealand.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Than
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004190:Disasters / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055866:Earthquakes / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: earthquakes; emergency preparedness; mortality; natural disasters