Television exposure is related to fear of avian flu, an Ecological Study across 23 member states of the European Union

Background: A pandemic outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza is believed to coincide with large-scale panic. Even without an outbreak fear of infection may be widespread. Mass media coverage of the risks of a pandemic may lead to higher levels of fear. Methods: An ecological study looked at data from 23...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European Journal of Public Health
Main Authors: Van den Bulck, Jan, Custers, Kathleen
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7543771/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19451192
https://doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckp061
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Summary:Background: A pandemic outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza is believed to coincide with large-scale panic. Even without an outbreak fear of infection may be widespread. Mass media coverage of the risks of a pandemic may lead to higher levels of fear. Methods: An ecological study looked at data from 23 member states of the European Union and controlled for population size, level of education, age distribution and income and wealth. Results: When the findings for Cyprus were excluded each additional hour of average TV viewing was associated with a 15.6% increase in the proportion of people worrying about the virus. TV viewing explained 52% of the variance. Conclusion: Fear of a pandemic precedes any real pandemic and may have to be dealt with separately. Exposure to television is highly associated with worrying about the virus. This relationship merits further study.