Public perception of the risk of blood transfusion

BACKGROUND: Health policymakers are concerned about the proportion of peopl e who say they are unwilling to receive a blood transfusion. This article e xamines how social, cultural, and political factors affect the perceived ri sk of transfusions. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: Data were collected as part of a large national t elephone survey of 1204 people conducted in the United States in 1997 and 1 998. The survey elicited images associated with blood transfusions and cont ained questions about the perceived risk of the blood supply, sensitivity t o stigma, worldviews, trust, and demographics. RESULTS: The results showed that a substantial proportion of people do not consider the US blood supply to be safe and say they would not accept blood if hospitalized. The images evoked most frequently by the stimulus phrase "blood transfusions" were related to AIDS or HIV. The people who tend to pe rceive the greatest personal and public risk from blood transfusions are fe male, nonwhite, and less educated, and they have not previously received a transfusion. Sensitivity to stigma, mistrust, one's perceived inability to control hazardous activities and technologies, and fatalistic and egalitari an worldviews tend to be associated with heightened concern about the risk of blood transfusions. CONCLUSION: Risk perceptions need to be monitored to anticipate and deal wi th problems of public acceptance. Risk management strategies should be tail ored to the specific characteristics of individuals that are important dete rminants of the perceived risk of transfusions.