• Andrew Chee Keng Lee, Andrew Booth, Kirsty Challen, Paolo Gardois, and Steve Goodacre.
• The School of Health and Related Research, the University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK West Yorkshire Health Protection Team, Public Health England, Leeds, UK.
• Emerg Med J. 2014 Oct 1; 31 (e1): e78-83.

IntroductionGlobally, there has been an increase in the prevalence and scale of disasters with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) tending to be more affected. Consequently, disaster risk reduction has been advocated as a global priority. However, the evidence base for disaster management in these settings is unclear.MethodsThis study is a scoping review of the evidence base for disaster management in LMIC. Potentially relevant articles between 1990 and 2011 were searched for, assessed for relevance and subsequently categorised using a thematic coding framework based on the US Integrated Emergency Management System model.ResultsOut of 1545 articles identified, only 178 were from LMIC settings. Most were of less robust design such as event reports and commentaries, and 66% pertained to natural disasters. There was a paucity of articles on disaster mitigation or recovery, and more were written on disaster response and preparedness issues.DiscussionConsiderably more articles were published from high-income country settings that may reflect a publication bias. Current grey literature on disaster management tends not to be peer reviewed, is not well organised and not easy to access. The paucity of peer-reviewed publications compromises evidence review initiatives that seek to provide an evidence-base for disaster management in LMIC. As such, there is an urgent need for greater research and publication of findings on disaster management issues from these settings.Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

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