Table 5.
Factors associated with anticipated psychological responses if 2 to 3 new human-to-human and 2 to 3 new bird-to-human H5N1 cases were to be reported in Hong Kong in the next 12 months
| >3 distress responses (onset of human-to-human H5N1 transmission)‡ |
>3 distress responses (onset of bird-to-human H5N1 transmission)‡ |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row % | ORu | ORm | Row % | ORu | ORm | |
| Socio-demographic factors | ||||||
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 19.2 | 1.00 | — | 14.2 | 1.00 | — |
| Female | 26.0 | 1.48∼ | 18.0 | 1.33 | ||
| Age groups | ||||||
| 18-39 years | 20.7 | 1.00 | — | 15.2 | 1.00 | — |
| 40-60 years | 24.8 | 1.26 | 17.2 | 1.16 | ||
| Education level | ||||||
| ≤Secondary Form 5 (11th grade) | 22.9 | 1.00 | — | 16.2 | 1.00 | — |
| >Secondary Form 5 (11th grade) | 22.9 | 1.00 | 16.8 | 1.05 | ||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Ever married | 25.7 | 1.00 | ns | 18.8 | 1.00 | — |
| Never married | 18.1 | 0.64∗ | 10.1 | 0.49∼ | ||
| Employment status | ||||||
| Not employed full-time | 22.6 | 1.00 | — | 10.6 | 1.00 | — |
| Employed full-time | 23.0 | 1.02 | 19.2 | 2.01∼ | ||
| SARS experiences | ||||||
| Self-rated emotional distress during the SARS epidemica | ||||||
| ≤75th percentile | 18.7 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 13.5 | 1.00 | ns |
| >75th percentile | 41.1 | 3.02∗∗∗ | 2.63∗∗∗ | 29.4 | 2.66∗∗ | |
| Current immediate public health responses (last 3 months) | ||||||
| Avoided visiting hospitals due to fear of avian influenza | ||||||
| No | 20.1 | 1.00 | ns | 12.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 33.7 | 2.02∗∗ | 32.1 | 3.29∗∗ | 2.59∗ | |
| Eating less poultry meat in the last 3 months | ||||||
| No | 18.5 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 12.0 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 34.0 | 2.27∗∗∗ | 2.33∗∗ | 26.7 | 2.67∗∗ | 2.13∗ |
| Anticipated occurrence in the coming year | ||||||
| Bird-to-human H5N1 occurring in Hong Kong | ||||||
| No | 20.5 | 1.00 | — | 17.4 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 24.8 | 1.28 | 14.8 | 0.83 | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 occurring in Hong Kong | ||||||
| No | 19.9 | 1.00 | ns | 14.2 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 28.0 | 1.57∗ | 21.4 | 1.65 | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 occurring in mainland China | ||||||
| No | 19.3 | 1.00 | — | 12.7 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 26.0 | 1.47∼ | 20.9 | 1.82∼ | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 anywhere | ||||||
| No | 22.4 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 12.6 | 1.00 | ns |
| Yes | 25.3 | 1.77∗ | 1.61∗ | 35.4 | 1.92∗ | |
| Perceived susceptibility to contracting avian influenza | ||||||
| Perceived susceptibility of one's family members to contracting avian influenza | ||||||
| Low/very low/not certain | 17.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 13.8 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| High/very high | 39.3 | 3.04∗∗∗ | 3.08∗∗∗ | 31.0 | 2.79∗∗ | 2.63∗ |
| Perceptions related to medical aspects of H5N1 | ||||||
| Has very high fatality rate | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 14.0 | 1.00 | ns | 9.0 | 1.00 | ns |
| Agree | 25.9 | 2.16∗∗ | 19.2 | 2.41∗ | ||
| Causes permanent physical damage to patients | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 18.1 | 1.00 | ns | 7.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Agree | 26.8 | 1.66∗ | 24.2 | 3.89∗∗∗ | 2.58∗ | |
| Has symptoms similar to those of SARS | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 20.9 | 1.00 | — | 9.7 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Agree | 25.2 | 1.28 | 25.2 | 3.13∗∗∗ | 2.47∗ | |
| Preparedness of health authorities in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Hong Kong would not have adequate vaccine | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 15.8 | 1.00 | ns | 11.3 | 1.00 | ns |
| Agree | 27.0 | 1.97∗∗ | 21.2 | 2.12∗ | ||
| Hong Kong would not have adequate medicine/treatment | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 16.2 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 13.5 | 1.00 | ns |
| Agree | 28.5 | 2.07∗∗ | 1.65∗ | 19.7 | 1.57 | |
| Hospitals in Hong Kong would not have adequate infection control measures | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 18.2 | 1.00 | ns | 12.8 | 1.00 | ns |
| Agree | 28.9 | 1.82∗∗ | 22.6 | 2.00∗ | ||
| Anticipated impact of avian influenza as compared with SARS | ||||||
| Infectivity | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 17.7 | 1.00 | ns | 14.4 | 1.00 | — |
| Worse than SARS | 30.5 | 2.05∗∗ | 19.0 | 1.40 | ||
| Impact on oneself & family | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 18.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 13.0 | 1.00 | ns |
| Worse than SARS | 35.7 | 2.44∗∗∗ | 2.04∗∗ | 28.1 | 2.61∗∗ | |
| Economic impact on Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 22.0 | 1.00 | — | 11.0 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Worse than SARS | 24.3 | 1.14 | 28.3 | 3.20∗∗∗ | 2.27∗ | |
| Duration of the epidemic in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 21.0 | 1.00 | — | 16.4 | 1.00 | — |
| Worse than SARS | 25.6 | 1.30 | 16.0 | 0.97 | ||
| Total number of affected persons in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 17.8 | 1.00 | ns | 13.5 | 1.00 | — |
| Worse than SARS | 30.9 | 2.07∗∗ | 22.3 | 1.85∼ | ||
| No. of items with “worse than SARS” responses | ||||||
| 0-3 | 19.1 | 1.00 | ns | 13.0 | 1.00 | ns |
| 4-5 | 38.4 | 2.65∗∗∗ | 33.3 | 3.35∗∗ | ||
ns = not significant.
— univariately nonsignificant.
ORU = univariate OR; ORm, ORs obtained from multivariate stepwise logistic regression using univariately significant variables as candidate variables; ns, not significant.
a
Respondents were asked to rate their level of emotional distress during the SARS epidemic on a 1-10 point scale. A higher score denotes a higher level of emotional distress and the 75th percentile is 7.
∼
.05 < P < .01.
∗
P < .05.
∗∗
P < .01.
∗∗∗
P < .001.
‡
Anticipated psychological distress responses listed in Table 4.