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Epidemiology of tornado destruction in rural northern Bangladesh: risk factors for death and injury
Author(s) -
Sugimoto Jonathan D.,
Labrique Alain B.,
Ahmad Salahuddin,
Rashid Mahbubur,
Shamim Abu Ahmed,
Ullah Barkat,
Klemm Rolf D.W.,
Christian Parul,
West Keith P.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
disasters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.744
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1467-7717
pISSN - 0361-3666
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-7717.2010.01214.x
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , epidemiology , poison control , injury prevention , confidence interval , demography , occupational safety and health , tornado , cohort study , suicide prevention , environmental health , geography , pathology , sociology , meteorology
The epidemiology of tornado‐related disasters in the developing world is poorly understood. An August 2005 post‐tornado cohort study in rural Bangladesh identified elevated levels of death and injury among the elderly (≥ 60 years of age) (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 8.9 (95 per cent confidence interval (CI): 3.9–20.2) and AOR = 1.6 (95 per cent CI: 1.4–1.8), respectively), as compared to 15–24 year‐olds, and among those outdoors versus indoors during the tornado (AOR = 10.4 (95 per cent CI: 5.5–19.9) and AOR = 6.6 (95 per cent CI: 5.8–7.5), respectively). Females were 1.24 times (95 per cent CI: 1.15–1.33) more likely to be injured than males. Elevated risk of injury was significantly associated with structural damage to the house and tin construction materials. Seeking treatment was protective against death among the injured, odds ratio = 0.08 (95 per cent CI: 0.03–0.21). Further research is needed to develop injury prevention strategies and to address disparities in risk between age groups and between men and women.