Disaster Preparedness among Healthcare Professionals in Lebanon

Yara Skaff (), Mohammad Jarrah, Rabih Nasrallah, Reina Habib and Rania Sakr
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Yara Skaff: Department of Internal Medicine, Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, Beirut P.O. Box 11-3288, Lebanon
Mohammad Jarrah: Department of Internal Medicine, Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, Beirut P.O. Box 11-3288, Lebanon
Rabih Nasrallah: Department of Internal Medicine, Lebanese American University Medical Center Rizk Hospital, Beirut P.O. Box 11-3288, Lebanon
Reina Habib: Gilbert and Rose-Mary Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos P.O. Box 36, Lebanon
Rania Sakr: Gilbert and Rose-Mary Chagoury School of Medicine, Lebanese American University, Byblos P.O. Box 36, Lebanon

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 8, 1-10

Abstract: Background: Disaster disrupts the normal functioning of a community, causing significant damages and losses. In recent years, Lebanon faced multiple disasters, including one of the largest explosions ever recorded, the Beirut Blast, in August 2020. Limited studies in the literature have examined disaster medicine preparedness among healthcare professionals (HCPs). Objective: To examine the knowledge (K), attitude (A), readiness to practice (rP), and KArP associated with disaster medicine preparedness among HCPs in Lebanon. Methods: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted in Lebanon using data from participants answering an online survey. Participants enrolled in this study were HCPs (residents and faculty), medical students, and postdoctoral research scholars. Levels of knowledge, attitude, and readiness to practice were assessed and used to examine their association with participants’ socio-demographic characteristics. Results: A total of 195 participants (average age 30.6 ± 11.4 years) were included in this study. Participants reported moderate scores of knowledge, attitude, and readiness to practice. Older participants reported better readiness to practice and a KArP score. A significant difference was observed in all categories according to gender, with men having higher scores than women. No significant difference was observed between the level of education and knowledge, attitude, and total KArP scores. Conclusions: Our study’s findings showed that age and the level of education were positively correlated with readiness to practice. Men, compared to women, had significantly higher scores in all categories. Barriers to the KArP should be identified and targeted in future studies, as disaster preparedness at the institutional level may improve outcomes in future disaster encounters.

Keywords: knowledge; attitude; readiness to practice; disaster medicine preparedness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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