TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of public phobia about infectious diseases in South Korea
T2 - Effect of health communication and gender difference
AU - Jung, Minsoo
AU - Choi, Mankyu
AU - Lee, Tae Ro
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (NRF-2011-357-E00028) to Dr Minsoo Jung (principal investigator).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2013 APJPH.
PY - 2015/3/4
Y1 - 2015/3/4
N2 - This study investigated the individual and social determinants of the public's phobia of infectious diseases in South Korea, where collective action was recently fueled by the public phobia over mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE]). Gender-specific multivariate regression was used to compare the public perception of BSE and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The analysis results differentiated between the determinants of the phobia for the 2 diseases, BSE and HPAI (N = 1002). As with HIV/AIDS and leprosy, the public fear of HPAI was expressed as a disease phobia that seeks to ensure the social exclusion of infection sources, whereas the fear of BSE was influenced by social and communication factors. Therefore, BSE, unlike previous HPAI, can be rapidly amplified amid the growing distrust in health communication, in which case the social determinants of disease phobia are associated with communicator trust, social values, and political attitude toward diseases rather than disease perception.
AB - This study investigated the individual and social determinants of the public's phobia of infectious diseases in South Korea, where collective action was recently fueled by the public phobia over mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy [BSE]). Gender-specific multivariate regression was used to compare the public perception of BSE and highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). The analysis results differentiated between the determinants of the phobia for the 2 diseases, BSE and HPAI (N = 1002). As with HIV/AIDS and leprosy, the public fear of HPAI was expressed as a disease phobia that seeks to ensure the social exclusion of infection sources, whereas the fear of BSE was influenced by social and communication factors. Therefore, BSE, unlike previous HPAI, can be rapidly amplified amid the growing distrust in health communication, in which case the social determinants of disease phobia are associated with communicator trust, social values, and political attitude toward diseases rather than disease perception.
KW - bovine spongiform encephalopathy
KW - disease phobia
KW - health communication
KW - highly pathogenic avian influenza
KW - mass media
KW - risk perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84926370010&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/1010539513475653
DO - 10.1177/1010539513475653
M3 - Article
C2 - 23430887
AN - SCOPUS:84926370010
VL - 27
SP - NP833-NP843
JO - Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
JF - Asia-Pacific Journal of Public Health
SN - 1010-5395
IS - 2
ER -