Household and Community Disaster Preparedness in Japanese Provincial City: A Population-Based Household Survey

Jun Tomio, Hajime Sato, Yuji Matsuda, Toshie Koga, Hiroko Mizumura

Department of Architecture and Environmental Design, Kanto Gakuin University, Yokohama, Japan.
Department of Disaster Medical Management, University of Tokyo Hospital, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
Department of Health Policy and Technology Assessment, National Institute of Public Health, Wako, Japan.
Department of Human Environment Design, Faculty of Human Life Design, Toyo University, Asaka, Japan.
Division of Life Sciences, Human Environmental Sciences, Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, Tokyo, Japan.

DOI: 10.4236/aa.2014.42010                

Abstract

Household- and community-level preparedness have been re-emphasized after recent major earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan. The paper examines the prevalence and the determinants of disaster preparedness among the residents of a provincial city in Japan at both levels. Furthermore, it seeks to uncover the associations between household- and community-level preparedness activities to test the hypothesis that a complementary relationship exists between them. We used a subset of a population-based household questionnaire survey of 4000 randomly sampled households in Komoro City in the Nagano Prefecture of Japan in February and March of 2011. The questionnaire included specific questions to measure disaster the preparedness status at both the household and community levels. The characteristics and associations of household- and community-level preparedness were analyzed with multivariable logistic regression models. We found insufficient disaster preparedness at both household and community levels. Older, female, and better educated household heads were associated with better household preparedness, while length at residence, non-single status, presence of an elderly household member, and farming occupations were associated with better community preparedness. Households with one or more household-level preparedness measures were more likely to receive community assistance than those lacking them. The relationship between household and community preparedness was not complementary. Hence, a large proportion of the households were unprepared at both the community and household levels.

Keywords

Disaster Preparedness, Community, Household, Population-Based Study, Japan

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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