ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2009
Public perceptions, anxiety, and behaviour change in relation to the swine flu outbreak: cross sectional telephone survey.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 457 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
457 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 1,151 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mental Health of Prison Inmates During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.International journal of public health · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- The Effect of Risk Communication on Public Behavior to Non-Conventional Terrorism-Randomized Control Trial.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Trial
- Community psychological and behavioural responses to coronavirus disease 2019 over one year of the pandemic in 2020 in Hong Kong.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- A Web-Based Intervention (Germ Defence) to Increase Handwashing During a Pandemic: Process Evaluations of a Randomized Controlled Trial and Public Dissemination.Journal of medical Internet research · 2021Trial
- Perceived Readiness and Ability to Socially Distance During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic in a U.S. Metropolitan Area: Implications for Local Public Health Preparedness.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The relationship between public health emergencies and suicidal ideation: the mediating role of fear of missing out and the moderating role of conscientiousness.BMC psychology · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward avian influenza among free-grazing duck farmers in Central Thailand: An analytical cross-sectional study.Veterinary world · 2026Article
- A modelling approach to characterise the interaction between behavioral response and epidemics: A study based on COVID-19.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2025Article
- Design and psychometrics of a tool for measuring social cognitive factors related to the preventive behaviors toward Covid-19 in the society.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Individual Characteristics Associated with Fears and Prevention Behaviors Related to Respiratory Infectious Disease among South Korean Adults Using Complex Sample Design.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Infectious diseases risk framing in Bulgarian media during early COVID-19 pandemic and the Ebola crisis.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Examining the effects of voluntary avoidance behaviour and policy-mediated behaviour change on the dynamics of SARS-CoV-2: A mathematical model.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2024Article
- The causal relationship model of factors influencing COVID-19 preventive behaviors during the post-pandemic era and implications for health prevention strategies: a case of Bangkok City, Thailand.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Evaluation of the Level of Psychological Distress in Construction Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Southern Spain.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Trust in public health policy in the time of the COVID-19 epidemic in Israel.Israel journal of health policy research · 2024Article
- Compliance with Health Recommendations and Vaccine Hesitancy During the COVID Pandemic in Nine Countries.Prevention science : the official journal of the Society for Prevention Research · 2024Article
- Social identification and risk dynamics: How perceptions of (inter)personal and collective risk impact the adoption of COVID-19 preventative behaviors.Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis · 2024Article
- Psychological Responses of Chinese Medical Students to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Empirical Research Qualitative.Psychology research and behavior management · 2024Article
397 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether perceptions of the swine flu outbreak predicted changes in behaviour among members of the public in England, Scotland, and Wales.
designCross sectional telephone survey using random digit dialling.
settingInterviews by telephone between 8 and 12 May.
participants997 adults aged 18 or more who had heard of swine flu and spoke English.
main outcome measuresRecommended change in behaviour (increases in handwashing and surface cleaning or plans made with a "flu friend") and avoidance behaviours (engaged in one or more of six behaviours such as avoiding large crowds or public transport).
results37.8% of participants (n=377) reported performing any recommended behaviour change "over the past four days . . . because of swine flu." 4.9% (n=49) had carried out any avoidance behaviour. Controlling for personal details and anxiety, recommended changes were associated with perceptions that swine flu is severe, that the risk of catching it is high risk, that the outbreak will continue for a long time, that the authorities can be trusted, that good information has been provided, that people can control their risk of catching swine flu, and that specific behaviours are effective in reducing the risk. Being uncertain about the outbreak and believing that the outbreak had been exaggerated were associated with a lower likelihood of change. The strongest predictor of behaviour change was ethnicity, with participants from ethnic minority groups being more likely to make recommended changes (odds ratio 3.2, 95% confidence interval 2.0 to 5.3) and carry out avoidance behaviours (4.1, 2.0 to 8.4).
conclusionsThe results support efforts to inform the public about specific actions that can reduce the risks from swine flu and to communicate about the government's plans and resources. Tackling the perception that the outbreak has been "over-hyped" may be difficult but worthwhile. Additional research is required into differing reactions to the outbreak among ethnic groups.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.