Bioterrorism alerts could actually harm those they're intended to protect by increasing stress and anxiety levels, according to U.S. researchers.

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SYDNEY: Bioterrorism alerts designed to keep citizens safe may actually cause health problems, U.S. researchers say.

In the wake of September 11, the U.S. government and the media have periodically alerted Americans to potential threats of bioterrorism. A team of researchers from Yeshiva University in New York City has found that such messages measurably raise anxiety levels, and could pose adverse health effects.

"Public health programs, which these alerts fall under, and other health interventions are typically evaluated by weighing efficacy and safety. If a public health program can induce stress and anxiety in the population, these should be considered potentially adverse effects that need evaluation," noted senior author Hillel Cohen, whose team reported its findings in the most recent issue of International Quarterly of Community Health Education.

Cohen and his collaborators conducted their study with volunteers recruited from students enrolled at Yeshiva. The 116 participants (26 men and 90 women) were divided randomly into one of two groups. One group heard a potent message portraying a graphic account of a horrific case of bioterrorism, and the other received more neutral message that presented bioterrorism as a risk that was minor relative to other public health challenges.

Those receiving the more potent message became the 'experimental' group, while those receiving the more neutral message were considered the 'control' group. The research team evaluated the anxiety induced by the messages, the pessimism they caused, and the subjects' overall knowledge of bioterrorism.

"We saw a statistically significant increase in the [anxiety] levels for the experimental group and a decrease of similar magnitude for the control group," said Cohen.

"Alarms and warnings are purposely constructed to stimulate an arousal response," noted Cohen. "It is not surprising that alarms and warnings about potential dangers in general could also elevate anxiety and stress. Public health messages, like those to encourage quitting smoking or not driving after drinking, take advantage of this likely response in order to promote an aversion response to behaviors considered harmful."

But, said Cohen, "While risks and benefits are routinely weighed for medications and other health interventions, health related messages are simply assumed to be harmless. Our findings suggest this is not necessarily so."

In addition, he said, the messages do not make it clear what actions the public should take to avoid harm. "Unlike public health messages that portray dire scenarios to try to scare people into quitting smoking or using seatbelts, similar bioterrorism scenarios do not lead to any measurable beneficial behaviour change."

Before issuing alerts, said Cohen, "a clearer evaluation of [their] efficacy and safety should be undertaken. Doing so could prevent potentially harmful warnings that do little more than raise anxiety among the general population without offering a beneficial action for the public to take."