Volume 11, Number 3—March 2005
Research
SARS Risk Perceptions in Healthcare Workers, Japan
, Tsutomu Hoshuyama*, Naoki Hasegawa†, Meng-Kin Lim‡, and David Koh‡
Table 2
Knowledge of preventive measures, concept of institutional measures, and perception of risk by job category, sex, age, and type of facility*
| Questionnaire item | Job category |
Sex |
Age |
Type of facility |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Physicians | Nurses | Other | Men | Women | <35 y | >35 y | University | Nonuniversity† | Total | |
| Knowledge of preventive measures | ||||||||||
| Area isolation | 96.0 | 99.3 | 97.8 | 96.3 | 98.9 | 98.1 | 98.2 | 97.8 | 98.9 | 98.1 |
| Hand washing | 95.6 | 99.2 | 97.8 | 96.0 | 98.9 | 98.1 | 97.9 | 97.8 | 98.7 | 98.0 |
| Alcohol rubs | 87.0 | 94.6 | 95.1 | 89.8 | 94.9 | 93.2 | 93.5 | 93.2 | 93.6 | 93.3 |
| Prominent notices | 86.8 | 91.2 | 89.9 | 86.1 | 91.6 | 89.7 | 90.2 | 89.5 | 91.0 | 89.9 |
| N95 mask | 86.2 | 89.5 | 83.8 | 85.7 | 87.5 | 86.4 | 87.6 | 85.6 | 90.1 | 86.9 |
| Gloves | 73.7 | 82.6 | 78.2 | 74.8 | 81.3 | 78.0 | 81.0 | 77.3 | 84.3 | 79.3 |
| Gowns | 63.5 | 74.5 | 58.8 | 62.0 | 69.1 | 65.8 | 68.5 | 63.9 | 74.4 | 67.0 |
| Surgical mask | 64.5 | 62.5 | 66.4 | 63.6 | 64.5 | 64.6 | 63.8 | 63.8 | 65.1 | 64.2 |
| Temperature checks | 51.2 | 61.5 | 65.4 | 58.1 | 62.2 | 61.6 | 60.1 | 60.5 | 61.9 | 60.9 |
| Hair cover | 55.1 | 63.9 | 56.6 | 56.3 | 61.1 | 56.9 | 63.1 | 56.1 | 68.3 | 59.7 |
| Paper mask | 64.3 | 62.3 | 51.6 | 61.5 | 58.0 | 56.9 | 61.8 | 59.5 | 57.9 | 59.0 |
| Goggles | 57.7 | 56.3 | 55.3 | 56.7 | 56.0 | 51.9 | 61.7 | 52.9 | 64.2 | 56.2 |
| Gauze mask | 58.5 | 58.6 | 46.7 | 54.4 | 54.5 | 51.5 | 58.3 | 54.3 | 54.8 | 54.5 |
| Shoe cover | 50.6 | 55.5 | 51.9 | 50.7 | 54.4 | 50.7 | 56.5 | 49.4 | 62.6 | 53.3 |
| Limiting visitors | 29.9 | 41.3 | 30.5 | 31.6 | 36.9 | 33.4 | 37.6 | 32.6 | 41.9 | 35.3 |
| Concept of institutional measures | ||||||||||
| Clear policies and protocols | 62.8 | 70.6 | 59.4 | 62.6 | 66.4 | 61.6 | 69.7 | 62.8 | 71.2 | 65.2 |
| Specialist available | 42.6 | 59.6 | 50.4 | 45.4 | 56.5 | 48.8 | 58.3 | 49.0 | 62.8 | 53.0 |
| Adequate training | 29.4 | 48.9 | 31.9 | 31.7 | 42.4 | 35.2 | 43.8 | 35.7 | 47.1 | 39.1 |
| Effectiveness | 27.2 | 34.0 | 29.5 | 30.6 | 31.7 | 28.1 | 34.6 | 28.4 | 37.6 | 31.1 |
| Perception of risk | ||||||||||
| Avoidance of patient | 86.9 | 93.4 | 92.1 | 87.3 | 93.7 | 93.1 | 90.0 | 91.1 | 93.3 | 91.7 |
| Acceptance of risk | 69.5 | 64.7 | 60.9 | 67.0 | 63.1 | 62.3 | 66.6 | 64.0 | 64.8 | 64.3 |
| Little personal control | 59.8 | 61.7 | 59.8 | 59.2 | 61.3 | 60.6 | 60.7 | 60.5 | 61.1 | 60.6 |
| Fear | 48.9 | 60.6 | 52.1 | 48.7 | 58.2 | 55.8 | 54.7 | 52.2 | 62.9 | 55.3 |
| Job change | 14.3 | 34.1 | 24.7 | 15.7 | 31.9 | 30.7 | 22.5 | 24.1 | 33.8 | 27.0 |
*Data are presented as percentages, number of positive responses divided by number of respondents answering each question (except for paper mask and gauze mask, where negative responses were counted). Positive responses include "probably agree," "agree," and "strongly agree"; negative responses are "probably disagree," "disagree," and strongly disagree." Detailed information, including n's, distribution of scores, and p values (based on chi-square test for difference in proportion, t test for difference in 2 means, and analysis of variance [ANOVA] for differences in 3 means), is available in the full table in Table A1.
†Nonuniversity includes municipal hospitals (2 facilities) and private hospitals (1 facility).