Personal disaster preparedness of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: Development and validation of a self-report questionnaire

RATIONALE AND OBJECTIVES: The current resources related to chronic disease and disaster preparedness focus on chronic disease in general and do not examine the unique needs and vulnerabilities of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). The objective of this study was to develop a disaster-preparedness questionnaire for people with COPD, and evaluate validity, reliability, readability and feasibility. METHODS: The questionnaire was validated by pulmonary and disaster experts using the Content Validity Index method. Readability was assessed by participants with COPD, using the think-aloud method and a grade level assessment. Test-retest reliability was assessed in participants with COPD and analyzed using Kappa and prevalence-adjusted bias-adjusted Kappa (PABAK) scores. Feasibility, general and COPD-specific disaster preparedness were assessed in a separate cohort of participants with COPD. MEASUREMENTS and MAIN RESULTS: Based on the validation and readability assessments, the final version of the questionnaire included 27-items (19 general and 8 COPD-specific questions). Readability was measured at a grade 9 level. Test-retest reliability was moderate-good (overall Kappa = 0.54, overall PABAK = 0.69). Twenty-eight people with COPD completed the final questionnaire (time to complete < 15 minutes). A total of 68% reported they had food and water for 3 days; however, only 36% met the criteria for general disaster preparedness and only 37% met the criteria for COPD-specific disaster preparedness. CONCLUSIONS: The questionnaire is valid and reliable and is suitable for use by researchers and health professionals to assess disaster preparedness in people with COPD.