The Times Poll : Majority See Their Risk of Contracting AIDS as Low

While there is heightened awareness among Americans of the threat of AIDS, an overwhelming majority rate their personal risk of developing the deadly disease as very low, a Los Angeles Times Poll has found.

The nationwide survey showed that those polled believe Americans are more frightened of the disease than they used to be. Respondents rated AIDS first when asked which topics in the news they had been following recently. More than 85% had heard or read about AIDS two or more times in the prior week, and 38% more than seven times.

However, when asked about their concern about “AIDS as a problem for your own personal health,” 57% said they were very unconcerned or fairly unconcerned and 42% responded that they were very concerned or fairly concerned. Respondents placed it last when presented a list of important problems facing the country today.

Close to 90% of all respondents classified their personal risk of acquiring AIDS as very low. AIDS ranked a distant second to cancer on a list of seven feared diseases; 56% of the respondents said they were most afraid of getting cancer, 12% AIDS and 11% heart disease.

Those people who rated themselves most knowledgeable about AIDS feared it the least, while those who said they had less knowledge had more misconceptions about the disease and its spread. Twice as many people said they lacked knowledge of the disease than rated themselves as knowledgeable.

Particularly striking was the finding that in San Francisco, a city with a very high per capita incidence of the disease, individuals were significantly less concerned about AIDS as a personal health problem than the national total.

In the San Francisco area, 34% of respondents said they were concerned about AIDS as a personal health concern, compared to 57% of those in New York, 50% in Miami and 47% in Los Angeles, other communities with large numbers of AIDS victims.

In total, 56% of San Francisco respondents rated themselves as informed about the disease, compared to 44% in Los Angeles, 43% in New York and 35% in the country at large.

“Most Americans are not that upset about AIDS now, because they don’t view it as a personal risk,” said I. A. Lewis, director of the Times Poll. “For the most part, there is a measured, practical and temperate response, with a clear negative correlation between knowledge and fear of the disease.”

Have Control

Lewis interpreted the results as showing that most Americans believe they have control over their likelihood of exposure to the disease.

“If there had been a greater sense of personal risk, we probably would have seen more emotional responses,” he said.

The telephone poll of 2,308 people, conducted Dec. 5 to 12, was designed to assess the relationship of knowledge, fear and risk of the disease, which has become an increasing public health problem. As of Monday, 15,581 AIDS cases and 8,002 deaths from the disease had been reported nationally, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control.

Further, by interviewing additional individuals in areas where AIDS is most common, the survey permitted comparisons of the disease’s impact in different communities. Five metropolitan areas, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Miami and Newark, account for almost three-fifth’s of the AIDS cases reported in the United States to date.

Immune System

AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is caused by a virus that attacks the body’s immune system, leaving the victim vulnerable to a variety of tumors and infectious diseases.

Individuals most likely to develop AIDS include sexually active male homosexuals or bisexual men, intravenous drug users and individuals, such as hemophiliacs, who have received multiple blood transfusions. Heterosexual spread of the disease occurs, but it is thought to be uncommon in the United States.

Most respondents knew that AIDS primarily affects male homosexuals and that heterosexuals who have multiple partners have a greater chance of getting the disease than those with a single partner. Most also knew that fewer than 2 million people in the United States are thought to have been exposed to the AIDS virus. Forty-three percent predicted that the disease would affect more heterosexuals in future years.

Handling Money

On the other hand, many of those interviewed had misconceptions about the spread of the disease: 24% said people could catch AIDS from a toilet seat, 19% from eating food that had been handled by a disease victim, 14% from trying on clothes in a department store and 10% from handling money. Those with less education or knowledge about the disease had more misconceptions.

Public health experts say AIDS is transmitted only by intimate sexual contact with an individual who carries the virus or by exposure to the blood of a carrier. The disease is not thought to be spread through the environment or by casual contact.

About 10% of those surveyed said they were homosexual and 7% of those polled said they had jobs, such as in health care, that might put them in contact with AIDS patients.

Blood Test

Only 7% said they had considered taking a blood test to learn if they were carriers of the disease. The blood test measures antibodies to the AIDS virus. People who test positive may or may not actually develop AIDS but are considered infectious to others.

Three times more respondents considered AIDS a community health issue (68%) than a civil rights issue (22%). About three-quarters approved of the distribution of sexually explicit educational pamphlets developed to halt the spread of the disease. In Los Angeles, where the use of public funds for such pamphlets has aroused controversy, 80% of respondents were in favor of their distribution.

Nationally, 55% of those polled said they would send their child to school if a pupil in the class had AIDS, while 29% would keep their child home and 16% were not sure. In San Francisco, 65% said they would send their child to school under these circumstances, compared to 57% in Los Angeles and 43% in New York.

Shun Individuals

Thirty-five percent of those surveyed said they would make friends with someone who had tested positive for the antibodies, but 47% said they would avoid such individuals as a health precaution.

A slim majority of 51% also supported quarantine of AIDS victims, although most public health experts believe that such isolation measures would do little to halt the spread of the disease. Rather, officials emphasize the need for tracing of sexual or blood contacts on a case-by-case basis and educational efforts to modify behavior.

When asked when researchers were likely to find a cure for AIDS, 41% said within six years and an additional 24% said within 15 years, while 15% of those polled said never and 13% were not sure.

The sampling error of the poll was plus or minus 3%. This means that the results could vary by three percentage points in either direction if every adult in the country had been interviewed in the same way.

AIDS AWARENESS POLL

The Los Angeles Times Poll interviewed 2,308 people by telephone between Dec. 5 and 12 to assess public knowledge and concern about AIDS. By adding interviews in areas where AIDS is most common, the survey permitted these comparisons among three metropolitan areas:

Number who felt knowledgeable about AIDS Number concerned about AIDs as a problem for their personal health Number who rated their personal risk of contracting AIDS as low Number who know someone who has developed AIDS or has died of AIDS TOTAL REPORTED AIDS CASES (Federal Centers for Disease Control figures for Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas.)

U.S. L.A. N.Y. S.F. 15,581 1,308 5,012 1,721

AIDS CASES PER MILLION

U.S. L.A. N.Y. S.F. 68 175 550 529

RANKING AIDS AS U.S. PROBLEM

U.S. budget 30% Crime 26% Unemployment 23% War 20% Morals 17% Education 16% Inflation 14% AIDS 8%

WHAT NEWS TOPIC DO YOU FOLLOW?

AIDS 25% Hijackings 15% U.S. deficit 12% Summit talks 10% Tax bills 8% Volcano 7% Weather 7% Prince visit 1%

DISEASE YOU MOST FEAR?

Cancer 56% AIDS 12% Heart 11% Stroke 6% Diabetes 3% Liver 1% Pneumonia 1% Other 2%