The Gertner Institute for Epidemiology and Health Policy Research, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Ramat-Gan 5262100, Israel.
The Department of Emergency & Disaster Management, School of Public Health, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv-Yafo 6997801, Israel.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Dec 29;19(1):342. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010342.
Non-conventional terrorism (NCT) incorporates an extended dimension of uncertainty that can lead to fear among the public. Health officials have an unsubstantiated assumption that thousands will seek treatment in hospitals following NCT. This study aims to examine public behavioral intentions in the case of NCT and the effect of risk communication on intents. An online randomized controlled trial was conducted among 1802 adult participants in Israel. Threat perception and behavioral intent before and after exposure to hypothetical NCT scenarios were assessed stratified to the type of media, exposure to rumors, and risk communication. The majority (~64%) of participants are aware of the NCT threat. Almost half (45%) of participants indicated a "high" or "very high" chance of seeking medical attention following an NCT incident. Regression analysis suggests that the odds of participants exposed to risk communication to report an elevated intent of seeking medical attention were 0.470 (95% CI: 0.359, 0.615) times that of participants not exposed to risk communication, χ = 30.366, < 0.001. The findings demonstrate the importance of effective risk communication in reducing undesired public behavior during NCT crises. Efforts must be invested to create a robust risk communication infrastructure to allow the proper management of possible NCT incidents.
非常规恐怖主义（NCT）包含了一个扩展的不确定性维度，可能会导致公众产生恐惧。卫生官员有一个未经证实的假设，即在 NCT 之后，将有成千上万的人到医院寻求治疗。本研究旨在探讨公众在 NCT 情况下的行为意图，以及风险沟通对意图的影响。在以色列，对 1802 名成年参与者进行了在线随机对照试验。根据媒体类型、谣言接触情况和风险沟通情况，对暴露于假设性 NCT 场景前后的威胁感知和行为意图进行分层评估。大多数（约 64%）参与者意识到 NCT 威胁。几乎一半（45%）的参与者表示，在发生 NCT 事件后，他们有“高”或“非常高”的可能性寻求医疗关注。回归分析表明，与未接触风险沟通的参与者相比，接触风险沟通的参与者报告寻求医疗关注的意愿增加的几率为 0.470（95% CI：0.359，0.615）倍，χ=30.366， <0.001。研究结果表明，在 NCT 危机期间，有效的风险沟通对于减少公众的不良行为非常重要。必须投入努力来建立一个强大的风险沟通基础设施，以允许对可能的 NCT 事件进行适当的管理。
