Perceived social risk of the next major pandemic: antibiotic resistance / Percepción social de riesgo de la próxima gran pandemia: resistencia a los antibióticos

Abstract

Although there is abundant literature on this new pandemic in biological terms, studies on the associated risk or its perception are very scarce and recent, and show great variability (geography, actors involved…). In addition, studies conducted on the general population are practically non-existent. In order to overcome these challenges, it would be necessary to integrate social perception into studies of antibiotic resistance risk. To evaluate the social perception of risk, a methodology based on the psychometric paradigm was used, applying Slovic’s abbreviated scale to a representative sample. Findings show that the general public considers the risk of acquiring antibiotic resistance to be low or high depending on the characteristics analysed. The factor structure reflects the existence of five factors that explain 60.5% of its variance, the first two corresponding to the classical factors found in the literature: affective and cognitive components of risk perception. One of the most salient conclusions is the difference found in the risk profile between laypeople and experts.