65% of Americans can't list dosage of prescription medications: 5 insights

Alia Paavola -

Only 35 percent of Americans could list all of their prescription details, including dosage, if they had to evacuate their homes suddenly, according to a national poll on disaster response and preparedness.

The poll, conducted on behalf of disaster preparedness firm Healthcare Ready, surveyed 1,127 adults on their concerns about threats, including natural disasters, disease outbreaks and other emergency situations.

Here are five key poll insights:

1. For the third consecutive year, Americans most feared natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornados, floods or wildfires, with 33 percent indicating they were their top concerns.

2. Other concerns included terrorist attacks (15 percent), disease outbreaks (13 percent), cyberattacks (8 percent) and environmental disasters (5 percent).

3. In regards to preparation for any of these threats, 35 percent of Americans said they could list all of their prescription details if they had to evacuate their homes suddenly without medications or medical supplies. This is down from 2017, where 38 percent indicated they could list all of these details.

4. One in four Americans reported they could only go two to three days without access to these medications before they experienced a negative effect.

5. More than half of Americans (53 percent) don't have an emergency preparation plan in place.

Read the full poll results here.

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