Factors Influencing Preparedness for Bioterrorism among Koreans.

Yujeong Kim,Eunmi Lee

doi:10.3390/ijerph18105401

Abstract

Bioterrorism is destructive enough to cause a societal collapse, and preparation for bioterrorism is imperative. This study aims to identify the factors influencing preparedness for bioterrorism among Koreans. A total of 1050 subjects were included in the study, which were allocated according to region and age in proportion to population. An online survey was used to examine the following factors: participants’ general characteristics; cognitive factors including perceived probability, perceived seriousness, perceived personal impact, perceived coping efficacy, and perceived resilience; social–contextual factors including perceived governmental preparedness and perceived front-line preparedness; affective responses including affective response to terrorism and anxiety; and bioterrorism preparedness. The factors influencing the level of preparedness for bioterrorism included age, marital status, experience of bioterrorism education, perceived personal impact, perceived coping efficacy, perceived resilience, and perceived front-line preparedness. The factors that most significantly affected the level of preparedness for bioterrorism were perceived coping efficacy and perceived front-line preparedness, with an R2 of 41.4%. Relevant education and public relations programs should be strengthened to help citizens minimize their exposure and known to inform relevant institutions in the event of suspected bioterrorism, and front-line responders should cultivate their ability to respond to bioterrorism quickly and accurately.

Highlights

Bioterrorism refers to the deliberate use of biological agents such as viruses, bacteria, toxins, or fungi with the intention to cause chaos in society [1,2]
The results showed that men and married participants were more prepared for bioterrorism
Among social–contextual factors, perceived front-line preparedness was most highly associated with preparedness for bioterrorism. This result extended findings from a previous study, which reported that individuals’ perceived coping efficacy was associated with perceived preparedness [26,28,30], and it is connected to a study that showed that perceived front-line preparedness among social–contextual factors improved individual preparedness and reduced avoidance behaviors, positively influencing preparedness for bioterrorism [8,31,32]. These results show that an individual’s level of preparedness increases in the following situations: when the dangers of bioterrorism are recognized; when the perceived front-line preparedness increases from the social–contextual perspective; and when individual coping efficacy improves

Summary

Introduction

Bioterrorism refers to the deliberate use of biological agents such as viruses, bacteria, toxins, or fungi with the intention to cause chaos in society [1,2]. Such intentional acts have been part of the history of war and terrorism, and since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States, the importance of actively preparing for potential bioterrorism events has been recognized. Biological agents (e.g., anthrax, smallpox, botulinum toxin, plague, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and tularemia) can spread and can cause disruption in public health systems and society [1]. An efficient medical response system should be in place to minimize potential damage, and continuous efforts to strengthen the national medical response system are extremely important [3,5]

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Discussion

Conclusion