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Affiliation
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Department of Military Health Management, College of Health Service, Second Military Medical University, 800 Xiangyin Rd, Shanghai, 200433, China. zllrmit@163.com. |
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Abstract
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BACKGROUND: As extremely violent meteorological disasters, tornadoes often cause serious casualties. The study aims to analyze the characteristics and causes of tornado injuries in China under certain humanistic and geographical conditions.
METHODS: A random sampling questionnaire survey was developed and distributed to tornado victims from two separate occurrences: an Enhanced Fujita 4 tornado in Yancheng, and a Fujita 3 tornado in Chifeng. The information of demographic characteristics, disaster environment, and individual behaviors in victims was collected. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to analyze influencing factor of injuries.
RESULTS: A total of 94 valid questionnaires (participation rate 95.9%) were finally collected in Yancheng tornado and 67 valid questionnaires (participation rate 93.1%) in Chifeng tornado. Residents' annual income (OR = 0.10, 95% CI 0.02-0.50, P = 0.005), degree of house collapse (OR = 183.12, 95% CI 8.04-4173.34, P = 0.001) have a significant impact on the probability of injury. Differences in tornado disaster drill awareness (P = 0.009), individual behaviors (P = 0.011) and fear level (P = 0.011) significantly affected the incidence of trauma. Whether victims were indoors or not has no statistical difference on injuries in China.
CONCLUSIONS: Our study clarifies risk factors and is conducive to the expansion of the investigation in tornado casualties. The government should improve the wind-resistance of residential buildings. Victims should participate in disaster prevention drills to take effective disaster avoidance actions.
Language: en |