Table V.
Factors associated with avoidance of recovered SARS patients: univariate analysis of factors related to SARS-related perceptions
| At least one avoidance item | Any one job-related discriminatory item | Total number of avoidance items | Total number of job-related discriminatory items | ||||||||
| Independent variables | Row % | OR (95% CI) | Row % | OR (95% CI) | Mean | SD | P value | Mean | SD | P value | |
| Currently, there are many asymptomatic SARS patients in Hong Kong | Disagree | 15.0% | 1.00 | 34.6% | 1.00 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.098 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 0.045 |
| Agree | 21.8% | 1.58 (0.92, 2.72) | 39.1% | 1.21 (0.78, 1.89) | 0.7 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.8 | |||
| SARS could be transmitted via asymptomatic SARS patients | Disagree | 9.9% | 1.00 | 22.5% | 1.00 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 0.122 | 0.6 | 1.2 | <0.001 |
| Agree | 18.8% | 2.10 (1.07, 4.15) | 39.9% | 2.28 (1.39, 3.74) | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 1.7 | |||
| Patients having recovered for 18 months could transmit SARS to others | Disagree | 14.7% | 1.00 | 31.9% | 1.00 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.004 | 0.9 | 1.5 | <0.001 |
| Agree | 27.0% | 2.16 (1.20, 3.88) | 54.1% | 2.51 (1.51, 4.16) | 1.0 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 1.8 | |||
| Dining with recovered SARS case could transmit SARSa | Disagree | 13.2% | 1.00 | 32.4% | 1.00 | 0.4 | 1.2 | <0.001 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.001 |
| Agree | 35.2% | 3.57 (2.02, 6.31) | 53.5% | 2.40 (1.44, 4.02) | 1.3 | 2.2 | 1.6 | 1.7 | |||
| Handshaking with recovered SARS patients could transmit SARSa | Disagree | 14.0% | 1.00 | 33.5% | 1.00 | 0.4 | 1.1 | <0.001 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 0.006 |
| Agree | 37.3% | 3.64 (1.93, 6.85) | 52.9% | 2.23 (1.24, 4.02) | 1.7 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.8 | |||
| Recovered SARS patients would have very poor health in the very long run | Disagree | 8.7% | 1.00 | 22.0% | 1.00 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 0.005 | 0.6 | 1.3 | <0.001 |
| Agree | 19.7% | 2.59 (1.32, 5.08) | 40.9% | 2.45 (1.52, 3.93) | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 1.7 | |||
| Recovered SARS patients would not be able to handle demanding job dutiesa | Disagree | 10.9% | 1.00 | 30.1% | 1.00 | 0.3 | 1.1 | 0.001 | 0.8 | 1.5 | 0.001 |
| Agree | 23.9% | 2.56 (1.54, 4.25) | 42.8% | 1.74 (1.18, 2.56) | 0.8 | 1.8 | 1.3 | 1.7 | |||
| SARS could be transmitted via aerosols | Disagree | 13.8% | 1.00 | 28.6% | 1.00 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 0.164 | 0.8 | 1.4 | <0.001 |
| Agree | 19.2% | 1.48 (0.90, 2.45) | 42.1% | 1.82 (1.23, 2.68) | 0.6 | 1.6 | 1.3 | 1.7 | |||
| The mortality rate for SARS patients of age <60 years was >10% | Disagree | 14.6% | 1.00 | 28.7% | 1.00 | 0.5 | 1.4 | 0.473 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.013 |
| Agree | 19.0% | 1.38 (0.84, 2.26) | 43.8% | 1.93 (1.31, 2.85) | 0.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 1.6 | |||
| I am still much disturbed by SARSa | Disagree | 14.0% | 1.00 | 30.6% | 1.00 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.003 | 0.9 | 1.5 | <0.001 |
| Agree | 22.1% | 1.75 (1.06, 2.88) | 46.3% | 1.95 (1.31, 2.93) | 0.8 | 1.9 | 1.4 | 1.8 | |||
a
The time frame was set to be the time of the survey, which was ∼8 months since the reporting of the last SARS case in Hong Kong.