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. 2005 May;11(5):732-4.
doi: 10.3201/eid1105.040512.

Media effects on students during SARS outbreak

Sheri L Bergeron  1 , Ana L Sanchez
Affiliations

Media effects on students during SARS outbreak

Sheri L Bergeron et al. Emerg Infect Dis. 2005 May.

Abstract

A few months after the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak, a sample of Canadian undergraduate university students completed a questionnaire that showed that, despite believing media coverage of the outbreak was excessive, they had little anxiety about acquiring SARS. Additionally, 69% of participants failed a SARS-specific knowledge section of the questionnaire.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of participants who correctly answered each of the knowledge questions about severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) according to major (n = 300). *Statistically significant differences between health and nonhealth majors among the questions pertaining to the cause and treatment of SARS (p = 0.000 and p = 0.004, respectively).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Summary findings of participants' perceptions about media coverage, level of anxiety of acquiring severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and responses to the SARS knowledge section (n = 300).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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