A Survey to Compare Disaster Preparedness Knowledge, Skills and Attitude Among Nurses and Physiotherapists in Delhi-NCR

Background and Purpose: Around the world, natural disasters upend lives and economies; Delhi capital city in India, lying on tectonic plates seems particularly susceptible. Physiotherapists and nurses need to be ready to handle these emergencies. An observational, cross-sectional survey using the Disaster Preparedness Evaluation Tool (DPET) is used in this study to examine the nurses and physiotherapist’s knowledge, skillsand attitude related to disaster preparedness.Methodology: The study population consisted of 154 physiotherapists and 154 nurses (308 in total) who were actively working in hospitals, possessed a minimum of two years of professional experience, and voluntarily expressed interest in participating in the survey. Participants ranged in age from 23 to 60 years. Thee observational, cross-sectional survey used DPET questionnaire containing 36 Likert-type questions assessing knowledge, skills, and attitudes. The data was collected through both online and offline questionnaire distribution and the outcomes were statistically assessed through SPSS version 22.Results: The DPET outcomes on knowledge, skills and attitude (KSA) were reported in mean±SD. The physiotherapists scored 52.77±11.079 for knowledge, 32.69±7.249 for skills, and 65.58±12.003 for attitude, while nurses scored 52.34±12.397 for knowledge, 33.98±7.249 for skills, and 63.92±12.463 for attitude, with no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05). On comparison, between the two groups, the nurses exhibited slightly higher skill levels. The study revealed that physiotherapists and nurses possess similar levels of disaster preparedness, with nurses demonstrating marginally higher proficiency in skills, there by supporting the null hypothesis that minimal differences exist in disaster preparedness knowledge, skills, and attitudesbetween the nurses and physiotherapists.