| Popis: |
Background: Hepatitis C is present all over the world with a high prevalence in European Regions, and Italy appears to be one of the European countries with an estimated prevalence of the chronic disease in about 3% of the population (1.5 million people). The scientific evidence shows that risky behaviours are widespread among young people and require particular attention and adequate measures. The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of different narrative communicative scenarios regarding the intention of students to carry out diagnostic testing for Hepatitis C and if gender identification, and the increase in information about the infection risk could influence the students’ propensity to undergo a medical test.Methods: The study was voluntarily attended by 850 university students. Participants were administered three narrative scenarios with different frames (positive, negative, ambivalent) and including two gender options (male and female) for the main character of the story.Results: Results showed that in order to stimulate the propensity for a diagnostic check in the juvenile population, the use of a negative scenario with a same gender character was always more effective than the use of a positive framed scenario, even if the level of knowledge about the disease was remarkable.Conclusion: The findings of this study can ultimately help the policy makers develop communication campaigns to raise awareness of the risk and encourage medical screening that needs to be adapted to target populations. |
