Table 2.
Mean scores and standard deviations (SD) of severity, vulnerability, and perceived threat of eight different diseases and conditions, N = 3,436
| Disease | Severity (scale 1–10) | Vulnerability (scale 1–5) | Perceived threata (scale 1–5) | Comparative vulnerability (scale 1–5) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | Mean | SD | |
| SARS. outbreak in countryb | 8.3 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 0.9 | 2.6 | 1.0 |
| Heart attack | 8.4 | 2.1 | 2.5 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 2.5 | 1.1 |
| Flu from new virus. outbreak in countryb | 6.9 | 2.5 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 1.0 |
| Flu from a new flu virusb | 6.9 | 2.5 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 1.0 |
| SARS. outbreak outside countryb | 8.3 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 |
| High blood pressure | 6.4 | 2.2 | 2.4 | 1.2 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 1.1 |
| Tuberculosis | 7.3 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 2.1 | 0.9 |
| Food poisoning | 5.6 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 1.0 |
| Diabetes | 6.8 | 2.5 | 2.0 | 1.1 | 2.5 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 1.0 |
| HIV | 9.1 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 0.8 |
| Common cold | 2.8 | 2.1 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 3.0 | 1.0 |
aPerceived threat is the square root of the multiplication of severity/2 and vulnerability. Diseases are ranked by perceived threat score
bSeverity of SARS and flu from a new virus was asked in general. The mean score is given in the table for both situations (outbreak in or outside country)