A survey of the appropriateness of the public's responses to hypothetical medical problems.

In a community survey based on the Cardiff electoral register a sample of 737 adults were questioned about what they would do in certain illness situations. The 20 hypothetical situations varied in terms of the age of the patient and the severity and seriousness of the illness. People were asked to choose from 13 reactions of differing urgency from taking home remedies, going to bed or staying indoors to dialling 999 and calling an ambulance.The authors' perceptions of the appropriateness of the reactions often did not match that of the public. In some situations, notably those involving changed bowel habits, black motions and high temperature with stiff neck, the public were thought to under-react, while in other cases, for example those involving bleeding, there was a tendency to over-react. Women were more likely than men to make appropriate responses, as were those in social classes 1 and 2. Those whose education was limited only to elementary or secondary school were more likely to be defined as overreactors or changers. These same characteristics were observed in the over-65-year-olds.Although the methodology described in this paper needs further development, the study points to a number of conditions where the public seems more or less concerned than the medical profession. It also suggests that health education programmes could pay more attention to illness behaviour.