title: Disaster Preparedness and Awareness of Patients on Hemodialysis after Hurricane Sandy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Patients with ESRD on dialysis live in a complex sociomedical situation and are dependent on technology and infrastructure, such as transportation, electricity, and water, to sustain their lives. Interruptions of this infrastructure by natural disasters can result in devastating outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between November of 2013 and April of 2014, a cross-sectional survey was conducted of patients who received maintenance hemodialysis before and after the landfall of Hurricane Sandy on October 29, 2012 in lower Manhattan, New York. The primary outcome was the number of missed dialysis sessions after the storm. Dialysis-specific and general disaster preparedness were assessed using checklists prepared by the National Kidney Foundation and US Homeland Security, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 598 patients were approached, and 357 (59.7%) patients completed the survey. Participants were 60.2% men and 30.0% black, with a median age of 60 years old; 94 (26.3%) participants missed dialysis (median of two sessions [quartile 1 to quartile 3 =1-3]), and 236 (66.1%) participants received dialysis at nonregular dialysis unit(s): 209 (58.5%) at affiliated dialysis unit(s) and 27 (7.6%) at emergency rooms. The percentages of participants who carried their insurance information and detailed medication list were 75.9% and 44.3%, respectively. Enhancement of the dialysis emergency packet after the hurricane was associated with a significantly higher cache of medical records at home at follow-up survey (P<0.001, Fisher's exact test). Multivariate Poisson regression analysis showed that dialysis-specific preparedness (incidence rate ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.87 to 0.98), other racial ethnicity (incidence rate ratio, 0.34; 95% confidence interval, 0.20 to 0.57), dialysis treatment in affiliated units (incidence rate ratio, 0.69; 95% confidence interval, 0.51 to 0.94), and older age (incidence rate ratio, 0.98; 95% confidence interval, 0.97 to 0.99) were associated with a significantly lower incidence rate ratio of missed dialysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is still room to improve the preparedness for natural disasters of patients with ESRD. Provider- or facility-oriented enhancement of awareness of the disease and preparedness should be a priority.
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine and.
authors.forename: Naoka
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine and.
authors.forename: Hira Babu
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Siktel
authors.affiliation: Office of Graduate Medical Education, Mount Sinai Beth Israel, New York, New York.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lucido
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine and jwinches@chpnet.org.
authors.forename: James F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Winchester
authors.affiliation: Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Medicine and.
authors.forename: Nikolas B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Harbord
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001364:Awareness; D057189:Checklist; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002959:Civil Defense / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055867:Cyclonic Storms; D019033:Delivery of Health Care, Integrated / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004190:Disasters; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017146:Models, Organizational; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009519:New York City; D016017:Odds Ratio; D006435:Renal Dialysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: ESRD; dialysis; epidemiology and outcomes