Surveillance and epidemiology in natural disasters: a novel framework and assessment of reliability.

Objective: To create a framework and methodology for organizing relevant disaster epidemiology literature. The target audience for the framework is local public health practitioners conducting emergency surveillance in the setting of preparedness or response to natural disasters.

Methods: The approach to developing the framework involved utilizing the public health and emergency management literature. It was created along four axes. The first was the type of natural disaster; second was according to phase of disaster cycle; third was the impact of the disaster (health, infrastructure, economic); and fourth was related to the main outcome of the study (ie. injuries or infectious diseases). A literature review was conducted and subsequently the current literature was utilized to perform a reliability test of the established framework, using two independent reviewers.

Results: Using existing disaster classification systems and risk analysis tools, a framework was developed along the four axes. The final literature search resulted in 85 articles on surveillance in natural disaster settings. The majority of studies are on the subject of hurricanes with a catastrophic impact rating. The phase of testing reliability of the framework resulted in percent agreement of 74%.

Conclusions: A reliable framework was developed that enables local public health practitioners to easily access appropriate and previously utilized surveillance methods for a natural disaster emergency. This framework contributes to an evidence-informed approach to surveillance in natural disasters with public health impacts.