A multi-country survey of the socio-demographic factors associated with adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic

BMC Public Health

Research

Ala’a B. Al-Tammemi¹  Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga²  Ifeoma Idigbe³  Mohammed Jafer⁴  Muhammad Abrar Yousaf⁵  Morenike Oluwatoyin Folayan⁶  Annie L. Nguyen⁷  Martin Amogre Ayanore⁸  Nourhan M. Aly⁹  Maha El Tantawi⁹  Balgis Gaffar^1,10  Eshrat Ara^1,11  Passent Ellakany^1,12  Jorma I. Virtanen^1,13  Joanne Lusher^1,14  Oliver C. Ezechi^1,15 

[1] Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Applied Science Research Center, Applied Science Private University, Amman, Jordan;Migration Health Division, International Organization for Migration, Amman, Jordan;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Centre for Social Data Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland;Postgraduate Department, University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Clinical Sciences Department, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Lagos, Nigeria;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Dental Public Health Division, Faculty of Dentistry, Jazan University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Technology, Virtual Univesity of Pakistan, Lahore, Pakistan;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Child Dental Health, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Family Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Health Policy Planning and Management, Fred N. Binka School of Public Health, University of Health and Allied Sciences, Ho, Ghana;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Dental Public Health, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Preventive Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Psychology, Governemnt College for Women, MA Road, Srinagar, J&K, India;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Department of Substitutive Dental SciencesCollege of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Faculty of Medicine, University of Turku, Turku, Finland;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;Provost’s Group, Regent’s University, London, UK;Mental Health and Wellness Study Group, Ile-Ife, Nigeria;The Centre for Reproductive and Population Health Studies, Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria;

关键词: COVID-19;    Health behaviour;    Prevention;    Social determinants of health;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-023-16279-2

 received in 2022-12-30, accepted in 2023-07-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundHealth behaviours are influenced by individual characteristics including age, gender, education and economic level. This study aimed to assess the associations between individual-level determinants and adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures.MethodsWe performed secondary analyses of international data collected using an online survey during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic between June and December 2020. The dependent variables were self-reported adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures (wearing of face masks, frequent washing/sanitizing of hands, physical distancing, working remotely). The independent variables were age, sex at birth (female vs male), having a chronic disease related elevated risk for severe COVID-19 (none/little, might be at increased risk, at increased risk), educational level completed (no formal education, primary, secondary vs college/university) and employment status (retiree, students, not employed vs employed). Four multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to determine the associations between the dependent variables and independent variables. Interaction terms with country-income level were tested in regressions to explore its moderating effect.ResultsOut of 16,866 respondents, 12,634 (74.9%) wore masks or face coverings, 12,336 (73.1%) washed or sanitized their hands frequently, 11,464 (68.0%) reported adherence to physical distancing and 5,646 (33.5%) worked remotely. In adjusted analyses, increased age, college/university education, employment, and having risks for severe COVID-19 were associated with significantly higher odds of adhering to COVID-19 preventive measures. Retirees and students had lower odds of adhering to COVID-19 prevention measures than employed individuals. Males had significantly lower odds of wearing face masks (AOR: 0.901), frequent washing/sanitizing hands (AOR: 0.774) and working remotely (AOR: 0.875) compared to females. Country-income level generally moderated the above relationships such that the associations disappeared in lower income countries.ConclusionThe study findings suggest that the individual socio-demographic factors—age, sex, employment status, education status and having a chronic disease – influence adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures. Findings further reiterate the need for health education and health promotion campaigns on preventive health measures to focus on subpopulations, such as younger males, students and retirees, that require targeted or unique messaging.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023