Disasters Characteristics; an Effective Factor in Risk Perception of Healthcare Middle Managers in Armed Forces: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: According to the increasing incidence of disasters in all countries and the emphasis on the Sendai framework for disaster risk reduction, recognizing such risks is an important step in increasing preparedness. Evidence suggests that healthcare system is not ready to deal with disasters. Disaster risk perception is a new and contextual concept, and no research is yet conducted in this area in Iran. Objective: The present study aimed at identifying the characteristics of disasters as an effective factor in risk perception of healthcare middle managers in armed forces. Materials and Methods: The current qualitative study was conducted in 2018 using the Graneheim & Lundman conventional content analysis. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews. The interviews continued until data saturation. The interviews were immediately transcribed and coded into semantic units to form categories and subcategories based on similarities and differences. Participants were 20 healthcare middle managers in armed forces with a variety of specialties. Results: After analyzing 20 semi-structured interviews with the healthcare middle managers, semantic units were summed up in 125 codes and 18 subclasses; then the subclasses were explained in three factors of inside hospital, outside hospital, and type of disaster. Discussion and Conclusion: The obtained results represented different aspects of disasters and their impacts on the risk perception of healthcare middle managers in armed forces. Disasters, in particular, political riots, inside and outside hospital disputes, as well as certain events such as holding elections and political-religious gatherings may affect the risk perception of managers and, consequently, their measures even before they become a threat to armed forces health organizations. It seems that the differences are related to the underlying conditions of Iran, especially the armed forces medical organizations.