Incidence and Mortality Rates of Disasters and Mass Casualty Incidents in Korea: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study, 2000-2009

Kim, Soo Jin; Kim, Chu Hyun; Shin, Sang Do; Lee, Seung Chul; Park, Ju Ok; Sung, Joohon

First, the NEMA administrative data were not fully computerized, and they may not contain sufficiently meaningful variables for an epidemiologic survey. Therefore, many of the variables that could have been used in the discussion of disasters and MCIs were not included in the study, and only some of the extracted variables were used to calculate the indicators for epidemiologic assessment using a descriptive method. Second, even though this study was a retrospective observational study, the environmental exposure at the time of each incident could not be found due to the characteristics of the administrative data. The cause-effect relationship between disasters/MCIs and exposure of the disasters/MCIs related environment to risks could not be determined, and thus, this result could not be analyzed. Third, some of the administrative data were duplicated or may have been overlooked because when the incident occurred on the boundary of two provinces, such data were excluded from the study. Fourth, the data source used in this study was the administrative data prepared for immediate incident reports, and these data may not be suitable for monitoring or for the establishment of a long-term database. Finally, administrative data from all provinces were used in our analysis, but the number of incidents and casualties may have been underestimated. In addition, the data reported to NEMA for early and mid-2000 did not contain data on MCIs and biological disasters such as severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and avian influenza, which may have contributed to an underestimation of the number of incidents.