Cet article s'intéresse au traitement médiatique des victimes de la Covid-19 en France pendant le premier confinement, à partir de deux sources : d'une part les points presse quotidiens du DGS, d'autre part la description des « victimes remarquables » dans la presse écrite. Les données hebdomadaires de Santé Publique France sont aussi mobilisées. Ces données soulignaient le grand âge et le poids des comorbidités parmi les victimes, mais ces deux caractéristiques ont fait l'objet d'un traitement médiatique très partiel par les deux autres sources. Les chiffres ont été mobilisés pour décrire une épidémie massive, mortelle, dont personne n'est à l'abri, jeunes compris, pour promouvoir et justifier l'action des autorités, et enrôler le public dans la guerre contre le virus. Les récits de vie des articles nécrologiques, comme le choix des victimes pour donner un visage à l'épidémie, brossaient un tableau très similaire. D'ordinaire, on attend des chiffres qu'ils nous éclairent, qu'ils nourrissent la réflexion et le débat. Mais l'avalanche sélective de nombres lors des points presse semblait plutôt destinée à effrayer le public, et à imposer une certaine lecture de la situation, et l'absolue nécessité du confinement.
Background: Past studies on smokers’ risk perception have produced mixed results. We endorsed a new approach to assess smokers’ perceptions of risk by asking them to estimate threshold values for the cancer risk associated with daily consumption of tobacco and number of smoking years. We expected that many smokers would endorse a “risk denial” attitude, with threshold estimates higher than their own smoking consumption and duration. Methodology: A French national telephone survey (n = 3820; 979 current smokers) included several questions about smoking behaviours and related beliefs. Results: Among current smokers, 44% considered that smoking can cause cancer only for a daily consumption higher than their own consumption, and an additional 20% considered that the cancer risk becomes high only for a smoking duration higher than their own. Most smokers also agreed with other “risk denial” statements (“smoking is not more dangerous than air pollution,” “some people smoke their whole life but never get sick”). Those who considered they smoked too few cigarettes to be at risk were less likely to report personal fear of smoking related cancer. Conclusion: Risk denial is quite widespread among smokers and does not simply reflect a lack of information about health risks related to tobacco. Fully informing smokers about their risks may necessitate changing the way they process information to produce beliefs and limiting their capacity to generate self exempting beliefs.
This paper aimed to assess whether the increase of social differentiation of smoking is observed in France.Five cross-sectional telephone surveys conducted in France between 2000 and 2007.The surveys were conducted among national representative samples of French subjects aged 18-75 years (n=12 256, n=2906, n=27 499, n=2887, n=6007 in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006 and 2007, respectively). We focused on three groups: executives, manual workers and the unemployed.Time trends of smoking prevalence were assessed, and socio-economic factors (especially occupation and job status) associated with smoking were identified and compared in 2000 and 2005. We also computed respondents' equivalized household consumption (EHI) and their cigarette budget to assess the financial burden of smoking.Between 2000 and 2007, smoking prevalence decreased by 22% among executive managers and professionals and by 11% among manual workers, and did not decrease among the unemployed. Indicators of an underprivileged social situation were associated more markedly with smoking in 2005 than in 2000. In addition, the falling-off of smoking initiation occurred later and was less marked among manual workers than it was among executive managers and professionals. Finally, in 2005 15% of French smokers devoted at least 20% of their EHI to the purchase of cigarettes, versus only 5% in 2000, and smoking weighted increasingly heavily on the poorest smokers' budgets.While these results point out an increased social differentiation in tobacco use, they underline the need to design and implement other forms of action to encourage people to quit, in particular targeting individuals belonging to underprivileged groups.
AbstractBackground During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, 11% of patients who were hospitalized in France were immediately admitted to intensive care. We aimed to identify and characterize the different types of primary care pathways of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 using patients’ self-reported experiences. Method We conducted a qualitative study using biographic interviews of patients who were hospitalized for COVID-19 between September 2020 and December 2021 in the infectious disease departments in Marseille and Nice. The biographical interviews used a life-events calendar approach to understand the sequences of clinical and care events prior to hospitalization. Results 31 pathways were described. Short care pathways (i.e., admission to hospital ≤ 3 days after symptom onset) were more likely to be reported by older patients and those with comorbidities. These pathways were characterized by closer GP surveillance and by sudden symptom onset and rapid progression of the disease. Long care pathways (i.e., >10 days after system onset) were reported more by younger patients with no comorbidities. Multiple tests and medical consultations returning false-negatives had led this population to doubt they had COVID-19. They were more likely to present severe symptoms requiring intensive care. The study revealed key importance of patients’ loved ones in the process of their hospitalization. Conclusion This study highlights that primary care management of COVID-19 patients needing hospitalization in France was particularly slow and detrimental to their health. It also underlines the need to improve the identification and monitoring of patients at risk of complications.
In developed countries, vaccinations against hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis A (HAV), and human papillomavirus (HPV) are often recommended to men who have sex with men (MSM) because of the risky sexual practices in which some engage. Vaccine coverage against these diseases is not optimal in France, probably due in part to vaccine hesitancy (VH). The overall aim of this survey among MSM was to estimate the prevalence of different grades of VH for these vaccines as well as of general VH (toward any vaccine). The specific objectives were to study the sociodemographic correlates of MSM specific and general VH and its association with vaccine uptake. A cross-sectional electronic survey (February–August 2022) collected information from 3,730 French MSM about their perceptions of HBV, HAV, and HPV and their related vaccines, to construct "specific VH" variables. Information about their past vaccination behaviors for any vaccine was used to construct a "general VH" variable, based on the World Health Organization definition. Almost 90% of MSM showed moderate or high specific VH for HBV, HAV, and/or HPV, and 54% general VH. A higher education level and comfortable financial situation were associated with lower grades of specific and general VH. Younger age was associated with less frequent specific VH and more frequent general VH. Specific VH, versus general, was more strongly associated with frequent self-reported non-vaccination against these three disease. Addressing their concerns about vaccines, improving their knowledge of vaccine-preventable sexually transmitted infections, and motivating them to get vaccinated are public health priorities.
Dans les pays développés, le tabagisme est devenu une pratique déviante, qui persiste surtout dans les milieux défavorisés. À partir de 31 entretiens menés avec des fumeurs pauvres du Sud de la France, cet article examine comment ceux-ci justifient leur pratique et jugent la lutte antitabac. Même s’ils reconnaissent leur dépendance, ces fumeurs affirment que la cigarette satisfait des besoins essentiels, ils relativisent les risques et critiquent l’industrie du tabac et les pouvoirs publics. Ces justifications sont à la fois ancrées dans la culture du risque contemporaine et dans la culture ouvrière, ce qui rend sans doute ces fumeurs peu perméables aux discours préventifs.
Objective: To study the relationships between working conditions, job dissatisfaction and smoking behaviors among clerks and manual workers. Methods: We used data from the French Health Barometer, a cross-sectional telephone survey conducted among a national random sample (N = 4825). Regarding working conditions, the questionnaire dealt with reported job satisfaction, psychological demands and mental workload, physical demands, latitude decision and work schedule. Results: Manual workers and clerks who reported strong dissatisfaction toward unhealthy working conditions also reported more frequently current smoking, tobacco dependence, potential alcohol dependence and perceived stress. After adjusting for socio-demographic confounders, perceived working conditions and job dissatisfaction remained correlated with smoking and tobacco dependence. Conclusions: Poor working conditions may heavily contribute to health inequalities, as they are likely to fuel both stress and unhealthy behaviors, which combine to increase morbidity and mortality.
