Researchers to Study Mortality Risk of Power Outages for DME Users

BOSTON—Researchers at the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the University of Washngton School of Public Health (UWSPH) have received a $3.4-million grant from the National Institute on Aging to study the health threat of weather-driven power outages among people reliant on durable medical equipment (DME). The five-year grant will look specifically at electricty-driven DME, which they call eDME, including ventilators, home dialysis equipmet, oxygen delivery systems, infusion pumps and mobility devices.

Mary Willis, assistant professor of epidemiology and environmental health at BUSPH, and Joan Casey, associate professor of epidemiology and environmental and occupational health sciences at UWSPH, will lead the first national evaluation of power outages, co-occurring severe weather events, and risk of mortality among electrical DME-reliant adults ages 65 and older who lived independently and received Medicare insurance between 2016 and 2026.

“Our project aims to center an understudied population with disabilities in the contemporary public health discussion of power outages and co-occurring severe weather events,” Willis said in an announcement of the grant published on the BUSPH website. “There is limited research on how emergency planning and interventions are supporting eDME-reliant older adults, a population that continues to grow alongside the increasing threat of power outages and co-occurring severe weather events. We hope that our findings provide timely, data-driven insights to inform how patients, clinicians, and healthcare systems can better protect this vulnerable group.”

Early estimates from the team suggest that more than half of eDME-reliant Medicare recipients lived in a county prone to power outages that lasted eight or more hours in 2024.

“For people who rely on electricity-dependent medical equipment, a power outage can quickly turn into a health crisis, especially for those with respiratory conditions who rely on breathing assistive devices,” Casey said. “As power outages become more frequent and longer in duration, understanding impacts on this vulnerable population is a pressing population health concern.”

For the project, the researchers will examine data on Medicare recipients to quantify the impacts of power outages on mortality among eDME users, determine how existing state-level emergency plans incorporate their health needs, and evaluate how existing programs may have health-protective benefits for eDME users during power outages.

The team includes several researchers from BUSPH and UWSPH. At BUSPH, coinvestigators include Paul Shafer, associate professor of health law, policy & management, and Eric Rubenstein, associate professor of epidemiology. UWSPH coinvestigators include Marissa Childs, assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences; Nicole Errett, associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences; and Joshua Benditt, professor of medicine at UW School of Medicine. 

It is critical for DME-dependent people to have access to alternative power sources, as many backup batteries only last for 4-12 hours, the announcement said. But portable, whole-house and solar generators can cost thousands of dollars and may not be easily accessible to people with limited income and means. 

The researchers said that in writing the proposal, they found some states allow for generators and other home modifications associated with eDME to be purchased with funds from Medicaid home- and community-based services. They said the goal is to determine whether these kind of programs lead to better outcomes.