Table 1.

Characteristics of 229 Italian occupational physicians participating in the survey (2020). Likert scale for perceived severity and perceived frequency of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) in agricultural and forestry settings were dichotomized as “significant” and “very significant” (i.e., severe and frequently reported disease) vs. all other values (i.e., not severe and infrequently reported).

Variable	No., %	Average ± SD
Age Group
<30 years	10, 4.4%
30–39 years	66, 28.8%
40–49 years	102, 44.5%
50–59 years	38, 16.6%
≥60 years	13, 5.7%
Gender
Male	119, 52.0%
Female	110, 48.0%
Residence
Northern Italy	96, 41.9%
Central Italy	93, 40.6%
Southern Italy	40, 17.5%
Residence in Italian Region Endemic for TBE	102, 44.5%
Knowledge of the Term “arbovirus”	143, 62.4%
Any Previous Interaction with TBE case(s) in the Practice	25, 10.9%
TBE Immunization Recommended in High-Risk Occupational Groups	44, 19.2%
General Knowledge Score		58.4% ± 12.0 (median 60.0%)
General Knowledge Score > Median (i.e., 60.0%)	79, 34.5%
TBE Acknowledged as a Severe Disease	38, 16.6%
TBE Acknowledged as a Frequently Reported Disease	77, 33.6%
Risk Perception Score		20.7% ± 12.8 (median 16.0%)

Notes: TBE = Tick Borne Encephalitis; Northern Italy = Italian regions of Valle d’Aosta, Piemonte, Liguria, Lombardia, Veneto, Trentino-Südtirol, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Emilia-Romagna; Central Italy = Italian regions of Toscana, Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo, Lazio; Southern Italy = Italian regions of Campania, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Calabria, Sicilia, Sardinia.