Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, Campus Box 1196, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
J Community Health. 2019 Aug;44(4):656-660. doi: 10.1007/s10900-019-00638-5.
Public health emergency preparedness can improve a community's ability to cope health outcomes associated with environmental disasters and complex emergencies. Previous studies of gender and preparedness have yielded mixed results. The objective of this study was to examine the association between gender and public health emergency preparedness among U.S. adults using data from the behavioral risk factors surveillance system (BRFSS). Data was analyzed from the 2006-2012 BRFSS for 96,137 adults from 10 states. Three self-reported preparedness behaviors were evaluated: household preparedness (3-day supply of water, 3-day supply of food, battery-operated radio, and flashlight), emergency evacuation plan, and 3-day supply of medication. Multivariable log-binomial regression was used to estimate associations between gender and each preparedness behavior. Gender-specific regression analyses were also conducted to identify determinants of public health emergency preparedness. After adjusting for sociodemographic characteristics, women were less likely to report household preparedness (PR 0.71, 95% CI 0.67-0.75) and a 3-day supply of medication (PR 0.89, 95% CI 0.79-0.99) than men. Among women, being divorced, widowed or separated (PR 0.84, 95% CI 0.71, 1.00) and living in a household with children (PR 0.84, 95% CI 0.77, 0.92) was inversely associated with reported household preparedness. This study adds to the epidemiology literature regarding gender and preparedness behaviors in the United States. Future investigations are warranted to confirm these findings and inform practices aimed at improving public health emergency preparedness.
公共卫生应急准备可以提高社区应对与环境灾害和复杂紧急情况相关的健康结果的能力。先前关于性别与准备情况的研究结果不一。本研究的目的是使用来自行为风险因素监测系统（BRFSS）的数据，研究美国成年人中性别与公共卫生应急准备之间的关系。对来自 10 个州的 96137 名成年人的 2006-2012 年 BRFSS 数据进行了分析。评估了三种自我报告的准备行为：家庭准备（3 天的水供应、3 天的食物供应、电池操作收音机和手电筒）、紧急疏散计划和 3 天的药物供应。使用多变量对数二项式回归来估计性别与每种准备行为之间的关联。还进行了性别特异性回归分析，以确定公共卫生应急准备的决定因素。在调整社会人口统计学特征后，女性报告家庭准备（PR 0.71，95%CI 0.67-0.75）和 3 天的药物供应（PR 0.89，95%CI 0.79-0.99）的可能性低于男性。在女性中，离婚、丧偶或分居（PR 0.84，95%CI 0.71,1.00）和与儿童同住的家庭（PR 0.84，95%CI 0.77,0.92）与报告的家庭准备呈负相关。本研究增加了美国关于性别和准备行为的流行病学文献。未来的研究需要证实这些发现，并为旨在提高公共卫生应急准备的实践提供信息。
