IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v6y2018i1p8-d130921.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Care Workers’ Risk Perceptions and Willingness to Report for Work during an Influenza Pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Georges Dionne

    (Canada Research Chair in Risk Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 Cote Ste Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Denise Desjardins

    (Canada Research Chair in Risk Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 Cote Ste Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Martin Lebeau

    (Canada Research Chair in Risk Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 Cote Ste Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • Stéphane Messier

    (Canada Research Chair in Risk Management, HEC Montréal, 3000 Cote Ste Catherine, Montreal, QC H3T 2A7, Canada)

  • André Dascal

    (Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Jewish General Hospital and McGill University, Montréal, QC H3T 1E2, Canada)

Abstract

The ability and willingness of health care workers to report for work during a pandemic are essential to pandemic response. The main contribution of this article is to examine the relationship between risk perception of personal and work activities and willingness to report for work during an influenza pandemic. Data were collected through a quantitative Web-based survey sent to health care workers on the island of Montreal. Respondents were asked about their perception of various risks to obtain index measures of risk perception. A multinomial logit model was applied for the probability estimations, and a factor analysis was conducted to compute risk perception indexes (scores). Risk perception associated with personal and work activities is a significant predictor of intended presence at work during an influenza pandemic. This means that correcting perceptual biases should be a public policy concern. These results have not been previously reported in the literature. Many organizational variables are also significant.

Suggested Citation

  • Georges Dionne & Denise Desjardins & Martin Lebeau & Stéphane Messier & André Dascal, 2018. "Health Care Workers’ Risk Perceptions and Willingness to Report for Work during an Influenza Pandemic," Risks, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-18, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:8-:d:130921
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/6/1/8/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/6/1/8/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Leoni, 2010. "What drives the perception of health and safety risks in the workplace? Evidence from European labour markets," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 165-195, May.
    2. Georges Dionne & Claude Fluet & Denise Desjardins, 2007. "Predicted risk perception and risk-taking behavior: The case of impaired driving," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 237-264, December.
    3. Liu, Jin-Tan & Hsieh, Chee-Ruey, 1995. "Risk Perception and Smoking Behavior: Empirical Evidence from Taiwan," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 139-157, September.
    4. Catherine E. Althaus, 2005. "A Disciplinary Perspective on the Epistemological Status of Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 567-588, June.
    5. Viscusi, W Kip, 1990. "Do Smokers Underestimate Risks?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(6), pages 1253-1269, December.
    6. Viscusi, W Kip & O'Connor, Charles J, 1984. "Adaptive Responses to Chemical Labeling: Are Workers Bayesian Decision Makers?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 74(5), pages 942-956, December.
    7. Arrow, Kenneth J, 1982. "Risk Perception in Psychology and Economics," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 20(1), pages 1-9, January.
    8. Hakes, Jahn K & Viscusi, W Kip, 1997. "Mortality Risk Perceptions: A Bayesian Reassessment," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 135-150, November.
    9. V. Kerry Smith & William H. Desvousges & F. Reed Johnson & Ann Fisher, 1990. "Can public information programs affect risk perceptions?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 9(1), pages 41-59.
    10. Petter Lundborg, 2007. "Smoking, information sources, and risk perceptions—New results on Swedish data," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 217-240, June.
    11. Smith, V Kerry & Johnson, F Reed, 1988. "How Do Risk Perceptions Respond to Information? The Case of Radon," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 70(1), pages 1-8, February.
    12. Viscusi, W. Kip, 1985. "A Bayesian perspective on biases in risk perception," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 59-62.
    13. Katherine Carman & Peter Kooreman, 2014. "Probability perceptions and preventive health care," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 49(1), pages 43-71, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Daniela Converso & Andreina Bruno & Vincenza Capone & Lara Colombo & Alessandra Falco & Teresa Galanti & Damiano Girardi & Gloria Guidetti & Sara Viotti & Barbara Loera, 2021. "Working during a Pandemic between the Risk of Being Infected and/or the Risks Related to Social Distancing: First Validation of the SAPH@W Questionnaire," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-14, June.
    2. Jinghan Yuan & Hansong Zou & Kefan Xie & Maxim A. Dulebenets, 2021. "An Assessment of Social Distancing Obedience Behavior during the COVID-19 Post-Epidemic Period in China: A Cross-Sectional Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-16, July.
    3. Wei-Po Chou & Peng-Wei Wang & Shiou-Lan Chen & Yu-Ping Chang & Chia-Fen Wu & Wei-Hsin Lu & Cheng-Fang Yen, 2020. "Voluntary Reduction of Social Interaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan: Related Factors and Association with Perceived Social Support," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-12, October.
    4. Kefan Xie & Benbu Liang & Maxim A. Dulebenets & Yanlan Mei, 2020. "The Impact of Risk Perception on Social Distancing during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-17, August.
    5. Peng Gu & Hao Zhang & Zeheng Liang & Dazhi Zhang, 2022. "Impact of Public Risk Perception in China on the Intention to Use Sports APPs during COVID-19 Pandemic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Georges Dionne & Claude Fluet & Denise Desjardins, 2007. "Predicted risk perception and risk-taking behavior: The case of impaired driving," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 237-264, December.
    2. Georges Dionne & Claude Fluet & Denise Desjardins, 2006. "Perception of the Risks Associated with Impaired Driving and Effects on Driving Behavior," Cahiers de recherche 0608, CIRPEE.
    3. Trudy Cameron, 2005. "Updating Subjective Risks in the Presence of Conflicting Information: An Application to Climate Change," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 30(1), pages 63-97, January.
    4. Lin, Wanchuan & Sloan, Frank, 2015. "Risk perceptions and smoking decisions of adult Chinese men," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 60-73.
    5. Cameron, Trudy Ann, 2005. "Individual option prices for climate change mitigation," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(2-3), pages 283-301, February.
    6. W. Kip Viscusi, 2016. "Risk Beliefs and Preferences for E-cigarettes," American Journal of Health Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 2(2), pages 213-240, Spring.
    7. Shiping Liu & Ju‐Chin Huang & Gregory L. Brown, 1998. "Information and Risk Perception: A Dynamic Adjustment Process," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 18(6), pages 689-699, December.
    8. Henrik Andersson, 2011. "Perception of Own Death Risk: An Assessment of Road‐Traffic Mortality Risk," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(7), pages 1069-1082, July.
    9. Frank Sloan & Lindsey Eldred & Tong Guo & Yanzhi Xu, 2013. "Are people overoptimistic about the effects of heavy drinking?," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 93-127, August.
    10. Yokoo, Hide-Fumi & Arimura, Toshi H. & Chattopadhyay, Mriduchhanda & Katayama, Hajime, 2023. "Subjective risk belief function in the field: Evidence from cooking fuel choices and health in India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    11. Joan Rovira & Joan Costa, "undated". "Relative mortality ris and the decision to smoke," Studies on the Spanish Economy 87, FEDEA.
    12. Adeline Delavande, 2008. "Measuring revisions to subjective expectations," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 43-82, February.
    13. Dickie, Mark & Adamowicz, Wiktor & Gerking, Shelby & Veronesi, Marcella, 2022. "Risk Perception, Learning, and Willingness to Pay to Reduce Heart Disease Risk," Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(3), pages 363-382, October.
    14. Hoehn, John P. & Randall, Alan, 2002. "The effect of resource quality information on resource injury perceptions and contingent values," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(1-2), pages 13-31, February.
    15. A. Ludwig & A. Zimper, 2013. "A parsimonious model of subjective life expectancy," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 75(4), pages 519-541, October.
    16. Alexander Zimper, 2011. "Do Bayesians Learn Their Way Out of Ambiguity?," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 8(4), pages 269-285, December.
    17. Henrik Andersson & Petter Lundborg, 2007. "Perception of own death risk," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 34(1), pages 67-84, February.
    18. Christoph M. Rheinberger & James K. Hammitt, 2018. "Dinner with Bayes: On the revision of risk beliefs," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 253-280, December.
    19. Konstantinos Drakos & Catherine Mueller, 2014. "On the Determinants of Terrorism Risk Concern in Europe," Defence and Peace Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 291-310, June.
    20. Hsieh, Chee-Ruey & Lo, Te-Fen, 2017. "Are smokers too optimistic about their health status: Ex ante perception versus ex post observation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 169-183.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:6:y:2018:i:1:p:8-:d:130921. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.