title: Barriers to Disaster Preparedness among Medical Special Needs Populations.
abstract: A medical special needs (MSN) assessment was conducted among 3088 respondents in a hurricane prone area. The sample was female (51.7%), Hispanic (92.9%), aged >45 years (51%), not insured for health (59.2%), and with an MSN (33.2%). Barriers to preparedness were characterized for all households, including those with inhabitants reporting MSN ranging from level 0 (mild) to level 4 (most severe). Multivariable logistic regression tested associations between hurricane preparedness and barriers to evacuation by level of MSN. A significant interaction effect between number of evacuation barriers and MSN was found. Among households that reported individuals with level 0 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 18% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.18, 95% CI (1.08, 1.30)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 1 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 29% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.29, 95% CI (1.11, 1.51)]. Among households that reported individuals with level 3 MSN, the odds of being unprepared increased 68% for each additional evacuation barrier [OR = 1.68, 95% CI (1.21, 1.32)]. MSN alone did not explain the probability of unpreparedness, but rather MSN in the presence of barriers helped explain unpreparedness.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus , Brownsville, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Leslie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus , Brownsville, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Vatcheva
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus , Brownsville, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Castellanos
authors.affiliation: University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston - School of Public Health, Brownsville Regional Campus , Brownsville, TX , USA.
authors.forename: Belinda
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Reininger
keywords: Hispanics; disaster preparedness; evacuation barriers; hurricane; medical special needs