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The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on May 18, 2009
The European Journal of Public Health 2009 19(4):370-374; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckp061
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© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Media and Public Health

Television exposure is related to fear of avian flu, an Ecological Study across 23 member states of the European Union

Jan Van den Bulck and Kathleen Custers

Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat 45, 3000 Leuven, Belgium

Correspondence: Jan Van den Bulck, Leuven School for Mass Communication Research, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Parkstraat 45, Box 3603, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, tel: +32 16 323294, fax: +32 16 323312, e-mail: jan.vandenbulck{at}soc.kuleuven.be

Received December 29, 2008 , accepted April 17, 2009

Background: A pandemic outbreak of H5N1 avian influenza is believed to coincide with large-scale panic. Even without an outbreak fear of infection may be widespread. Mass media coverage of the risks of a pandemic may lead to higher levels of fear. Methods: An ecological study looked at data from 23 member states of the European Union and controlled for population size, level of education, age distribution and income and wealth. Results: When the findings for Cyprus were excluded each additional hour of average TV viewing was associated with a 15.6% increase in the proportion of people worrying about the virus. TV viewing explained 52% of the variance. Conclusion: Fear of a pandemic precedes any real pandemic and may have to be dealt with separately. Exposure to television is highly associated with worrying about the virus. This relationship merits further study.

Keywords: avian influenza (H5N1), ecological study, fear, pandemic, television exposure


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