Van den Bulck Jan, Custers Kathleen
Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat 45, 3000 Leuven, Belgium.
Eur J Public Health. 2009 Aug;19(4):370-4. doi: 10.1093/eurpub/ckp061. Epub 2009 May 18.
A pandemic outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza is believed to coincide with large-scale panic. Even without an outbreak fear of infection may be widespread. Mass media coverage of the risks of a pandemic may lead to higher levels of fear.
An ecological study looked at data from 23 member states of the European Union and controlled for population size, level of education, age distribution and income and wealth.
When the findings for Cyprus were excluded each additional hour of average TV viewing was associated with a 15.6% increase in the proportion of people worrying about the virus. TV viewing explained 52% of the variance.
Fear of a pandemic precedes any real pandemic and may have to be dealt with separately. Exposure to television is highly associated with worrying about the virus. This relationship merits further study.
据信H5N1禽流感的大流行爆发会引发大规模恐慌。即使没有爆发，对感染的恐惧也可能广泛存在。大众媒体对大流行风险的报道可能会导致更高程度的恐惧。
一项生态学研究分析了来自欧盟23个成员国的数据，并对人口规模、教育水平、年龄分布以及收入和财富进行了控制。
排除塞浦路斯的调查结果后，平均每多看一小时电视，担心感染该病毒的人群比例就会增加15.6%。电视观看时长解释了52%的差异。
在实际的大流行之前就存在对大流行的恐惧，可能需要单独应对。接触电视与担心感染病毒高度相关。这种关系值得进一步研究。
