Preventive behaviors by the level of perceived infection sensitivity during the Korea outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in 2015

Lee, Soon Young; Yang, Hee Jeong; Kim, Gawon; Cheong, Hae-Kwan; Choi, Bo Youl

For general characteristics by cluster type, 62.7% of the overall sensitive group was women and those in their 30s were predominant, whereas 66.0% of the non-sensitive group was men and those in their 20s accounted for the majority. The overall sensitive group had relatively fewer high income earners, with four million Korean won or more earned as income, with many homemakers included. The non-sensitive group had a relatively higher rate of participants with menial labor jobs. In Pyeongtaek district, the non-sensitive cluster had an unexpectedly higher rate. With respect to health behaviors, the non-sensitive group had a higher proportion of smokers, risky drinkers, people with subjective good health condition, and people without chronic diseases, while there was no significant correlation with subjective stress levels. The overall sensitive group had more experiences of quarantine and active monitoring caused by MERS infection, as well as respiratory symptoms (Table 2) .