A recent University of Michigan study, published in Psychological Science, shows a common yet concerning behavior: people often hide their contagious illnesses in social and professional settings.
The study finds the prevalence and reasons behind this concealment, shedding light on a big public health issue.
The research, led by Wilson Merrell, involved analyzing data from over 4,100 participants.
These included university students, health care workers, and online crowdsourced workers across the United States.
Surprisingly, about 75% of participants admitted to hiding their illness during interpersonal interactions, a behavior that could endanger others.
Among health care employees, a group particularly significant for public health, 61% reported concealment behaviors.
This included keeping quiet about their illness, actively covering it up, misusing symptom screening apps, or intending to hide their illness in the future.
Merrell points out that the main reasons for concealment were social, like attending events, and achievement-oriented, such as meeting work obligations.
Notably, few participants cited institutional policies, such as lack of paid sick leave, as the primary driver for their behavior.
The study also explored the factors influencing these concealment decisions.
While healthy people predicted they would be less likely to hide severe or highly contagious illnesses, those who were actually sick reported high levels of concealment regardless of the illness’s severity or contagiousness.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, attempts to encourage honest sickness reporting, such as mandatory app-based symptom screening tools at universities, were analyzed.
The study found that around 41% of college students misused these screeners to hide their illness.
The study underscores the need for broader solutions that account for the complex motivations behind hiding illnesses and the public health risks it entails.
This hidden epidemic of concealing contagious illnesses for social or professional gain highlights a critical area for public health intervention and policy development.
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The research findings can be found in Psychological Science.
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