Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109929

Catherine M. DesRoches, DrPH¹, Robert J. Blendon, ScD¹, and John Benson, MEd². (1) School of Public Health, Health Policy and Management, Harvard University, 677 Huntington Ave., 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02115, 617-432-2859, cdesroch@hsph.harvard.edu, (2) Health Policy and Management, Harvard University School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Kresge 4th Floor, Boston, MA 02115

Objectives – To understand how citizens in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United States view the use of quarantine to control the spread of infectious diseases after quarantine was used in these countries to control the spread of Severe Acute Respitory Syndrome. Methods – A telephone survey was conducted with 500 adults in each of the four countries. Respondents were selected using random digit dialing. Surveys were completed in multiple languages in each country. The survey was conducted between October 2004 and November 2004. Results – The survey found significant differences between the US and the other three countries on views of the effectiveness of quarantine, methods of monitoring compliance with quarantine, preferences for quarantine locations, and trusted sources of information in the event of the widespread use of quarantine. In general, citizens in the US were less likely than those in the other three countries to favor restrictive methods of monitoring quarantine compliance and less likely to view government agencies as trusted sources of information. Respondents in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore were more likely to have had an experience with quarantine, more likely to view it as an effective method of controlling the spread of infectious disease, and more likely to want to be quarantined away from family members. There were common concerns across the four countries regarding worries about lost income, stigma, and stress due to quarantine. Conclusions – This study points to several issues that should be addressed by government health agencies prior to the need to implement widespread quarantine. These include loss of income for quarantined citizens, trusted sources of information, and methods of monitoring compliance. Creating policies on an ad hoc basis while quarantine is ongoing could result in a decrease in compliance and a loss of public trust.

Learning Objectives:

At the conclusion of this presentation participants will be able to
• list specific problems that should be addressed prior to implementing widespread quarantine
• identify information sources that would be trusted by the public in the event of widespread quarantine and
• assess differences in attitudes toward quarantine between countries with a recent history of widespread quarantine and those without this recent history.

Keywords: Infectious Diseases, Public Health Policy

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.

Recorded presentation