Table 6.
Factors associated with anticipated avoidance behaviors 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 avoidance behaviors (onset of human-to-human H5N1 transmission)‡ |
>3 avoidance behaviors (onset of bird-to-human H5N1 transmission)‡ |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Row % | ORu | ORm | Row % | ORu | ORm | |
| Socio-demographic factors | ||||||
| Gender | ||||||
| Male | 55.6 | 1.00 | — | 59.6 | 1.00 | — |
| Female | 57.2 | 1.07 | 54.7 | 0.82 | ||
| Age groups | ||||||
| 18-39 years | 47.7 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 53.1 | 1.00 | — |
| 40-60 years | 64.5 | 1.99∗∗∗ | 1.83∗∗ | 60.5 | 1.35 | |
| Education level | ||||||
| ≤Secondary Form 5 (11th grade) | 59.4 | 1.00 | — | 60.1 | 1.00 | — |
| >Secondary Form 5 (11th grade) | 52.3 | 0.75 | 52.0 | 0.72 | ||
| Marital status | ||||||
| Ever married | 61.9 | 1.00 | ns | 57.3 | 1.00 | — |
| Never married | 47.3 | 0.55∗∗ | 56.2 | 0.96 | ||
| Employment status | ||||||
| Not employed full-time | 57.3 | 1.00 | — | 53.8 | 1.00 | — |
| Employed full-time | 55.9 | 0.95 | 58.6 | 1.21 | ||
| SARS experiences | ||||||
| Self-rated emotional distress during the SARS epidemica | ||||||
| ≤75th percentile | 53.4 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 55.4 | 1.00 | — |
| >75th percentile | 68.4 | 1.89∗∗ | 1.73∗ | 64.7 | 1.48 | |
| Current immediate public health responses (last 3 months) | ||||||
| Avoided visiting hospitals due to fear of avian influenza | ||||||
| No | 52.9 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 52.8 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Yes | 70.2 | 2.10∗∗ | 1.76∗ | 75.0 | 2.68∗∗ | 2.28∗ |
| Eating less poultry meat in the last 3 months | ||||||
| No | 51.7 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 54.6 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 68.8 | 2.06∗∗ | 1.68∗ | 62.8 | 1.40 | |
| Anticipated occurrence in the coming year | ||||||
| Bird-to-human H5N1 occurring in Hong Kong | ||||||
| No | 59.4 | 1.00 | — | 57.5 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 54.0 | 0.80 | 56.3 | 0.95 | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 occurring in Hong Kong | ||||||
| No | 55.8 | 1.00 | — | 56.9 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 57.5 | 1.07 | 57.1 | 1.01 | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 occurring in mainland China | ||||||
| No | 54.6 | 1.00 | — | 57.8 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 58.1 | 1.15 | 55.8 | 0.92 | ||
| Human-to-human H5N1 anywhere | ||||||
| No | 55.3 | 1.00 | — | 55.9 | 1.00 | — |
| Yes | 62.1 | 1.06 | 62.5 | 0.92 | ||
| Perceived susceptibility to contracting avian influenza | ||||||
| Perceived susceptibility of one's family members to contracting avian influenza | ||||||
| Low/very low/not certain | 55.4 | 1.00 | — | 55.0 | 1.00 | — |
| High/very high | 59.8 | 1.20 | 69.0 | 1.83∼ | ||
| Perceptions related to medical aspects of H5N1 | ||||||
| Has very high fatality | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 42.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 41.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Agree | 61.2 | 2.13∗∗∗ | 2.19∗∗∗ | 63.4 | 2.43∗∗ | 2.09∗∗ |
| Causes permanent physical damage to patients | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 52.9 | 1.00 | — | 53.1 | 1.00 | — |
| Agree | 59.4 | 1.31 | 60.5 | 1.35 | ||
| Has symptoms similar to those of SARS | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 54.9 | 1.00 | — | 60.0 | 1.00 | — |
| Agree | 58.3 | 1.15 | 52.8 | 0.74 | ||
| Preparedness of health authorities in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Hong Kong would not have adequate vaccine | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 51.1 | 1.00 | — | 56.3 | 1.00 | — |
| Agree | 59.6 | 1.41∼ | 57.6 | 1.06 | ||
| Hong Kong would not have adequate medicine/treatment | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 50.7 | 1.00 | 57.1 | 1.00 | — | |
| Agree | 61.3 | 1.54∗ | ns | 56.8 | 0.99 | |
| Hospitals in Hong Kong would not have adequate infection control measures | ||||||
| Disagree/not certain | 55.4 | 1.00 | — | 58.7 | 1.00 | — |
| Agree | 57.8 | 1.10 | 53.8 | 0.82 | ||
| Anticipated impact of avian influenza as compared with SARS | ||||||
| Infectivity | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 51.7 | 1.00 | ns | 48.6 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Worse than SARS | 63.5 | 1.63∗∗ | 69.4 | 2.40∗∗∗ | 2.22∗∗ | |
| Impact on oneself & family | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 52.0 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 55.0 | 1.00 | — |
| Worse than SARS | 69.8 | 2.14∗∗ | 1.74∗ | 64.1 | 1.46 | |
| Economic impact on Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 54.7 | 1.00 | — | 51.9 | 1.00 | |
| Worse than SARS | 59.5 | 1.21 | 68.5 | 2.01∗∗ | ns | |
| Duration of the epidemic in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 53.3 | 1.00 | — | 51.9 | 1.00 | |
| Worse than SARS | 61.1 | 1.37∼ | 64.7 | 1.70∗ | ns | |
| Total number of affected persons in Hong Kong | ||||||
| Better/same as SARS/uncertain | 54.0 | 1.00 | — | 50.5 | 1.00 | |
| Worse than SARS | 60.3 | 1.29 | 71.3 | 2.43∗∗ | ns | |
| No. of items with ‘worse than SARS’ responses | ||||||
| 0-3 | 53.2 | 1.00 | — | 53.9 | 1.00 | |
| 4-5 | 69.7 | 2.02∗∗ | 72.9 | 2.30∗ | ns | |
—univariately nonsignificant.
ORU, univariate OR. ORm, OR 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.
∼
0.05 < P < .01.
∗
P < .05.
∗∗
P < .01.
∗∗∗
P < .001.
‡
Anticipated avoidance behaviors listed in Table 4.