Table 1 Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Population of interest

• Studies of populations in one or more of 62 countries considered most vulnerable to epidemics. These have been identified as follows:

 a. The top 50 countries from the 2016 Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index: Somalia, Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan, Mauritania, Angola, Haiti, Afghanistan, Niger, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Benin, The Gambia, Liberia, Guinea, São Tomé and Principe, Sierra Leone, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Yemen, Eritrea, Togo, Mozambique, Republic of the Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire, Malawi, Sudan, Djibouti, Pakistan, Timor-Leste, Senegal, Zimbabwe, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania, Lesotho, Burundi, Laos, Cambodia, Rwanda, Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), Uganda, Solomon Islands, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Kiribati and Cameroon [5]

 b. 12 additional countries from The World Bank’s fragile and conflict-affected states lists of 2016–2020: Kosovo, Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Myanmar, Tuvalu, Palestine, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Syria, Venezuela [104]

• Population groups of interest:

 a. General public (aged 15 years or more)

 b. Health professionals (service providers, managers, planners policy makers)

Studies of populations in countries other than the 62 eligible countries

Studies of nationals from one or more of the 62 countries residing in other nations (e.g. refugees and migrants)

Intervention

• Any epidemic-prone disease, defined by the WHO as an infectious disease that typically leads to outbreaks and/or epidemics [105], and that typically manifests as an acute clinical illness

• Eligible studies may explore one or more epidemic-prone diseases, and may be implemented before, during or after an outbreak

• Chronic infectious diseases, namely HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, leprosy, chronic viral hepatitis and all sexually-transmitted infections

• Vaccines or other epidemic preparedness or response measures

Outcome of interest

• Measures or descriptions of risk perceptions of an epidemic-prone diseases and/or

• Measures or descriptions of factors associated with risk perceptions of an epidemic-prone disease

Definition of risk perceptions of an epidemic-prone diseases:

• Beliefs about potential harm due to the epidemic-prone disease in question [106]

• Eligible studies explored one or more of the following three dimensions of perceived risk from an epidemic-prone disease [106]:

 • Likelihood (the probability that one will be harmed by the epidemic-prone disease)

 • Susceptibility (an individual’s physical vulnerability to the epidemic-prone disease)

 • Severity (the extent of harm the epidemic-prone disease would cause)

Intentions to adopt or adoption of epidemic preparedness measures

Intentions to adopt, adoption of or adherence to disease prevention behaviours

Study design, publication types, language and date search restrictions

Study design: all primary, observational, mixed method, quantitative and qualitative study designs

Publication types: peer-reviewed articles journals for which the full text could be accessed

Language: no language restrictions in the search. Data extraction limited to English results

Date: Studies published since January 2011. The search period reflects recent and current vulnerability to epidemics in the countries selected

Study design: literature or systematic reviews, experimental studies

Publication types: editorials, letters to the editor, commentaries, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, opinion pieces, news articles, dissertations or theses, reports, peer-reviewed articles journals for which the full text cannot be accessed