Perceived Importance of Public Health Risks in Greece: A Nationwide Survey of the Adult Population

Abstract

The current study is the first to examine the perceptions of the Greek public towards selected health risks and prioritize perceived risk importance and the needs to be addressed for public health promotion. Participants were asked to consider the individual importance of selected risks and the top three most important risks. Data collection took place on February 2020 in a representative sample of the adult Greek population. Differences between groups were assessed with Chi-square tests. Logistic regression models were used to identify perceptions based on participants’ characteristics. Analysis was conducted in Stata 14, and 1976 adults participated in the survey: 48% male and 52% female. Road accidents, cancer and air pollution and environmental protection were considered the top three most important public health risks. Differences were observed between sexes; females were more concerned regarding the importance of the examined public health risks, and between age groups, younger ages considered STDs and contraception more important than older ages. Finally, non-smokers considered exercise and smoking to be more important than smokers. This is the first study to present and grade the public’s perceptions on the importance of public health risks in Greece. Our study’s prioritization of health risks could aid health authorities in improving and promoting the overall public health in Greece.

Perception of Occupational and Environmental Risks and Hazards among Mineworkers: A Psychometric Paradigm Approach

“…Briefly, in the psychometric approach, individuals are requested to rate their perception of various risks and hazards based on several common risk characteristics identified in previous studies [ 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. Subsequently, a principal component analysis (PCA) was used to reduce the number of proposed characteristics into two main dimensions or factors, frequently identified and named as “dreaded” and “unknown risks.” The former refers to the extent to which a threat is perceived as being dreadful, uncontrollable, and involuntary, with a catastrophic potential and fatal consequences; however, the latter entails the extent to which an event or hazard is believed to be unobservable, unknown to individuals, unfamiliar, new, and has delayed consequences [ 15 , 17 ].…”