Jocelyn Raude1, Kathleen MCColl2, Claude Flamand3, Themis Apostolidis4. 1. EHESP Rennes, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, France; Unité des Virus Emergents (UVE: Aix-Marseille Univ - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - IHU Méditerranée Infection), Marseille, France. Electronic address: Jocelyn.Raude@ehesp.fr. 2. EHESP Rennes, Université Sorbonne Paris Cité, France; Unité des Virus Emergents (UVE: Aix-Marseille Univ - IRD 190 - Inserm 1207 - IHU Méditerranée Infection), Marseille, France. 3. Institut Pasteur de Guyane, Unité D'Epidémiologie, Cayenne, France. 4. Aix Marseille Univ, LPS, Aix-en-Provence, France.
Abstract
RATIONALE: Although greater attention has been recently given to the ecological determinants of health behaviours, we still do not know much about the behavioural changes induced by the spread of infectiousdiseases. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we took advantage of a large epidemic of chikungunya, an emerging mosquito-borne disease, in French Guiana to examine the dynamic interaction between risk-related perceptions and behaviours that occurs in response to a disease outbreak. In particular, we tested empirically the assumption that both risk perceptions and health behaviours were elastic with respect to prevalence of chikungunya. METHODS: A representative sample of French Guianan (N=434) was interviewed in January 2015 just after the peak of the epidemic, and again 2 months later. Participants were asked about their perceptions of the threat, as well as their engagement in a range of protective behaviours promoted by the regional health authorities to control the spread of the disease. RESULTS: The surveys showed that (1) the frequency of some health behaviours - those related to visible control methods - significantly increased with the subjective and objective prevalence of the disease, (2) perceived risk of infection for oneself tended to decrease considerably over time, and (3) the risk reappraisal hypothesis failed to account for this paradoxical trend in the people's response to the risk of contracting the disease. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that people may fail to adjust their risk perceptions, and to a lesser extent their health protective behaviours, to the course of an epidemic. Notably, the prevalence elasticity of preventive action found in previous studies of behavioural response to infectious diseases differed substantially according to the type of intervention (personal versus environmental methods). This paradoxical trend may be attributed to risk habituation effects, which seem to vary significantly according to the social visibility of thepreventive actions.
RATIONALE: Although greater attention has been recently given to the ecological determinants of health behaviours, we still do not know much about the behavioural changes induced by the spread of infectiousdiseases. OBJECTIVE: In this study, we took advantage of a large epidemic of chikungunya, an emerging mosquito-borne disease, in French Guiana to examine the dynamic interaction between risk-related perceptions and behaviours that occurs in response to a disease outbreak. In particular, we tested empirically the assumption that both risk perceptions and health behaviours were elastic with respect to prevalence of chikungunya. METHODS: A representative sample of French Guianan (N=434) was interviewed in January 2015 just after the peak of the epidemic, and again 2 months later. Participants were asked about their perceptions of the threat, as well as their engagement in a range of protective behaviours promoted by the regional health authorities to control the spread of the disease. RESULTS: The surveys showed that (1) the frequency of some health behaviours - those related to visible control methods - significantly increased with the subjective and objective prevalence of the disease, (2) perceived risk of infection for oneself tended to decrease considerably over time, and (3) the risk reappraisal hypothesis failed to account for this paradoxical trend in the people's response to the risk of contracting the disease. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that people may fail to adjust their risk perceptions, and to a lesser extent their health protective behaviours, to the course of an epidemic. Notably, the prevalence elasticity of preventive action found in previous studies of behavioural response to infectious diseases differed substantially according to the type of intervention (personal versus environmental methods). This paradoxical trend may be attributed to risk habituation effects, which seem to vary significantly according to the social visibility of thepreventive actions.
Authors: Jamie Bedson; Laura A Skrip; Danielle Pedi; Sharon Abramowitz; Simone Carter; Mohamed F Jalloh; Sebastian Funk; Nina Gobat; Tamara Giles-Vernick; Gerardo Chowell; João Rangel de Almeida; Rania Elessawi; Samuel V Scarpino; Ross A Hammond; Sylvie Briand; Joshua M Epstein; Laurent Hébert-Dufresne; Benjamin M Althouse Journal: Nat Hum Behav Date: 2021-06-28
Authors: Kathleen McColl; Marion Debin; Cecile Souty; Caroline Guerrisi; Clement Turbelin; Alessandra Falchi; Isabelle Bonmarin; Daniela Paolotti; Chinelo Obi; Jim Duggan; Yamir Moreno; Ania Wisniak; Antoine Flahault; Thierry Blanchon; Vittoria Colizza; Jocelyn Raude Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2021-12-31 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Béatrice Gaillard; Fréderic Simard; Laurent Dormont; Pierre Jay-Robert; Denis D'Abadie de Lurbe; Manuel Etienne; Anne Baudin; Jocelyn Raude Journal: Am J Trop Med Hyg Date: 2019-11 Impact factor: 2.345