What does the public know about Ebola? The public's risk perceptions regarding the current Ebola outbreak in an as-yet unaffected country

Gesser‐Edelsburg, Anat; Shir-Raz, Yaffa; Hayek, Samah; Lev, Oshrat Sassoni-Bar

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2015.03.005

Cited by 39 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 21 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…There are other studies, which investigated Ebola risk perceptions, Ebola knowledge and the prevention of the Ebola virus during the last Ebola outbreak in West Africa [22–26]. However, the populations of these studies were objectively at lower risk of contracting Ebola than the population assessed in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

“…A study about Ebola knowledge in Israel concluded that the greatest challenges that organizations face is to provide comprehensive information that empowers the target population to make fact-based decisions about health and reflects uncertainty [26]. Ultimately, the regional EVD outbreak ought to be used as an opportunity to channel the efforts deployed in EVD preparedness in Guinea-Bissau towards the strengthening of its public health system.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Contextual and psychosocial factors predicting Ebola prevention behaviours using the RANAS approach to behaviour change in Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundThe outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in West Africa in December 2013 was the largest Ebola outbreak in history. This study aimed to measure the underlying contextual and psychosocial factors of intentions to perform Ebola prevention behaviours (not touching people who might be suffering from Ebola, reporting suspected cases to the National Ebola Hotline, NEH) in Guinea-Bissau. Geographical location, cross-border market activities, poor water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) conditions, and burial practices in some communities pose a serious risk in terms of potential EVD outbreak and seriously hamper its prevention in Guinea-Bissau.MethodsIn July and August 2015, quantitative data from 1369 respondents were gathered by structured face-to-face interviews. The questionnaire was based on the psychosocial factors of the RANAS (risks, attitudes, norms, abilities, and self-regulation) model. Data were analyzed by multiple linear regression analyses.ResultsThe most important predictors for the intention to call the NEH were believing that calling the Hotline would help the infected person, perceiving that important members from the household approve of calling the Hotline, thinking that calling the Hotline is something they should do, and believing that it is important to call the Hotline to report a suspected case. For the intention not to touch someone who might be suffering from Ebola, the most important predictors were health knowledge, the perception of risk with regard to touching a person who might be suffering from Ebola, and the belief that they were able not to touch a possibly infected person. Age in years was the only significant contextual predictor for one of the two behavioural intentions, the intention to call the Hotline. It seems that younger people are more likely to use a service like the NEH than older people.ConclusionsStrengths and gaps were identified in the study population in relation to the intention to perform prevention behaviours. These call for innovative ways of aligning existing hygiene programs with relevant psychosocial factors. This research is relevant to further outbreaks of contagious diseases as it sheds light on important aspects of the impact of public health interventions during emergencies and epidemics.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 78%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contextual and psychosocial factors predicting Ebola prevention behaviours using the RANAS approach to behaviour change in Guinea-Bissau

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In line with the findings of the study conducted in Germany and contrary to those of the research among the Israeli public, we found that the Ebola knowledge index (but not the personal knowledge about Ebola) was negatively associated with perceived severity of Ebola, likelihood of infection, and affective response to Ebola. It is likely that the inconsistent findings on the association between risk perception and knowledge about Ebola may be explained by differences in the levels of knowledge among the sample.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Xenophobic Attitudes: Evidence from Italy During the Ebola Outbreak

Prati

Pietrantoni²

2016

Risk Analysis

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purposes of the current study were twofold: (1) to investigate affective and cognitive responses and social-contextual factors related to Ebola and their intercorrelations in a developed country without widespread Ebola transmission; and (2) to examine the relationships among risk perception of Ebola, levels of knowledge about Ebola, and (blatant and subtle) prejudice toward African immigrants. Between January 2015 and March 2015, an anonymous cross-sectional survey was conducted among a convenience sample of 486 Italian adults. Results showed that most participants were not particularly concerned about Ebola and did not feel at risk of acquiring the virus. Cognitive dimensions of risk perception of Ebola (i.e., perceived severity of illness, perceived personal impact, perceived coping efficacy, and likelihood of infection), affective response (or worry) to Ebola, and social-contextual factors (i.e., perceived preparedness of institutions, family members' and friends' levels of worry) were interrelated. Prejudice toward African immigrants was positively related to risk perception of Ebola and negatively related to levels of knowledge about Ebola even when controlling for sociodemographic variables including political preference.

show abstract

“…22 In-fact, the willingness of the contacts to get enrolled is eventually determined by their level of understanding about EVD, the associated stigma from colleagues / family members / community, and fear of being prohibited from workplace / school. 40,41 Since the emergence of the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa, a sense of fear has developed among the local residents and even among the people residing in unaffected regions due to the novelty of exposure to the virus, poor preparedness, and ill-equipped status of the health care delivery system. 1,4,42 The problem of mass hysteria was further magnified due to the role of media, and incorrect knowledge among the people about the disease or its mode of spread.…”

Section: Challenges Encounteredmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…43,44 Another pre-requisite for the success of contact tracing is the existence of an accurate and culturally-sensitive communication. 40,41,45 Any insensitive / ambiguous message or practices during outbreaks can reverse all the achieved gains. 45 On the contrary, the health sector failed miserably in establishing any sort of trust with the local communities in the affected regions.…”

Section: Challenges Encounteredmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of contact tracing in containing the 2014 Ebola outbreak: a review

Saurabh

Prateek

2017

Afr H. Sci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: The 2014 outbreak of Ebola virus disease which emerged in the month of March in the year 2014 in Guinea has been declared as a public health emergency of international concern. Objectives: The objectives of the review article are to assess the role of contact tracing in the Ebola outbreak and to identify the challenges faced by the health workers while performing contact tracing. Methods: An extensive search of all materials related to the Ebola outbreak and contact tracing was carried out in PubMed, Medline, World Health Organization website and Google Scholar search engines. Keywords used in the search included Ebola virus disease, West-Africa, contact tracing, World Health Organization. Overall 60 articles were selected and included in the discussion. Results: Contact tracing is an important strategy in epidemiology and refers to the identification and diagnosis of those individuals who have come in contact with an infected person. It ultimately aims to reduce the time span required to detect and treat a case of an infectious disease and hence significantly minimize the risk of transmission to the subsequent susceptible individuals. In-fact, contact tracing continues to remain an important measure, as it aids the epidemiologist in containing the infection. Conclusion:The strategy of contact tracing has a great potential to significantly reduce the incidence of cases of Ebola virus disease. However, its success is eventually determined by the level of trust between the community and the public health system and the quality of the diagnostic & treatment services.

show abstract

What does the public know about Ebola? The public's risk perceptions regarding the current Ebola outbreak in an as-yet unaffected country

Cited by 39 publications

References 21 publications

Contextual and psychosocial factors predicting Ebola prevention behaviours using the RANAS approach to behaviour change in Guinea-Bissau

Contextual and psychosocial factors predicting Ebola prevention behaviours using the RANAS approach to behaviour change in Guinea-Bissau

Knowledge, Risk Perceptions, and Xenophobic Attitudes: Evidence from Italy During the Ebola Outbreak

Role of contact tracing in containing the 2014 Ebola outbreak: a review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About