Household preparedness for emergency events: a cross-sectional survey on residents in four regions of China

Abstract

ObjectiveThis study aimed to assess household preparedness for emergency events and its determinants in China.DesignA cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted on 3541 households in China in 2015.ParticipantsHouseholds were selected using a stratified cluster sampling strategy, representing central, eastern, western and southern regions of China. The designed questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews.Outcome measuresHousehold emergency preparedness was measured with 14 indicators, tapping into the supply of nine emergency necessities (food and water, extra batteries, battery-powered radio, battery-operated torch, first-aid kit, gas mask, fire extinguisher, escape ropes, whistle), coverage of accident insurance, knowledge of local emergency response systems (emergency numbers, exit routes and shelters) and availability of a household evacuation plan. If an individual acted on 9 of the 14 indicators, they were deemed well prepared. Logistic regression models were established to identify predictors of well preparedness based on 3541 returned questionnaires containing no missing values.ResultsOnly 9.9% of households were well prepared for emergencies: 53.6% did not know what to do and 31.6% did not want to think about it. A higher level of preparedness was found in the respondents who have attained higher education (adjusted OR=0.826 compared with the higher level), participated in emergency training activities (adjusted OR=2.299), had better emergency knowledge (adjusted OR=2.043), reported less fate-submissiveness (adjusted OR=1.385) and more self-reliance (adjusted OR=1.349), prior exposure to emergency events (adjusted OR=1.280) and held more positive attitudes towards preparedness (adjusted OR=1.286).ConclusionHousehold preparedness for emergency events is poor in China. Lack of motivation, negative attitude to preparedness and knowledge shortfall are major but remediable barriers for household preparedness.

Long-Term Improvement in Precautions for Flood Risk Mitigation: A Case Study in the Low-Lying Area of Central Vietnam

“…In particular, rural residents who had external reliant thinking were less focused on setting sub-floors while for those in the suburb it led to an underestimation of the importance of storing food and planning for evacuation. This result concurs with the findings of Chen et al (Chen et al 2019) and Grothmann and Reusswig (2006) that relying on external support leads households to disregard self-protective measures.…”

“…2 Map of the study site et al 2018). Reliance on external support was reported to be negatively correlated with protective responses (Grothmann and Reusswig 2006;Chen et al 2019). In this study, household income was ranked by referring to the 2016-2020 living standard (Vietnamese Government 2015) and the 2017 report on the average income (GSO 2017).…”

The Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Public Emergencies and the Response Capability of Residents in Shanghai after the Outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19): A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In today’s increasingly interconnected world, no community or country can be protected from public emergencies and disasters [ 1 ]. COVID-19 is a typical illustration of this.…”

“…Empirical research has suggested that household emergency preparedness can be affected by many factors such as knowledge, risk awareness and attitudes toward public health emergencies [ 1 ]. Some studies have also pointed out that people’s knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP), parts of their public health emergency response capability, play an important role in controlling the spread of an epidemic [ 6 , 7 ].…”

Association between Health Practice and Food Stockpiling for Disaster

“…The factors associated with stockpiling for disasters (e.g., emergency kits) have been clarified in previous studies. For example, the associated factors were advanced age, male sex, higher income, and higher educational background [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 ] (i.e., socioeconomic status (SES) factors). However, although Japan has experienced many large disasters in the last 10 years, the improvement rate from 2011 (the year of the Great East Japan Earthquake) is only 6.4% [ 11 , 12 ] because there are many households that have never stockpiled food and also those whose stockpiling has been interrupted.…”