Compliance with COVID-19 Prevention Measures in the Spanish Population during the New Normal: Will the Need for Greater Community Involvement Be One of the Lessons Learned?

Assessing factors associated with compliance to preventive measures of COVID-19 in Rwanda: a cross-sectional community survey

OBJECTIVE

To assess the level of compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures and compliance-associated factors in the Rwanda community.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

SETTINGS

Country-wide community survey in Rwanda.

PARTICIPANTS

4763 participants were randomly sampled following the sampling frame used for the recent Rwanda Demographic Health Survey. Participants were aged between 22 years and 94 years.

OUTCOMES

The participants' compliance with three preventive measures (wearing a face mask, washing hands and social distancing) was the main outcome.

METHODS

From 14 February 2022 to 27 February 2022, a cross-sectional survey using telephone calls was conducted. Study questionnaires included different questions such as participants' demographics and compliance with COVID-19 preventives measures. Verbal consent was obtained from each participant. The compliance on three main preventive measures (wearing a mask, washing hands and social distancing) were the main outcomes. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate factors associated with compliance (age, gender, level of education, socioeconomic status).

RESULTS

Compliance with the three primary preventive measures (washing hands 98%, wearing a mask 97% and observing social distance 98%) was at a rate of 95%. The respondents' mean age was 46±11 SD (range 22-98) years. In addition, 69% were female and 86% had attended primary education. Bivariate and regression analyses indicated a significant association among the three primary preventive measures (p<0.05). The results showed factors associated significantly between the different models (p<0.05): proper mask use and social distancing in the hand washing model; hand washing, social distancing, avoiding handshakes and not attending gatherings in the proper mask use model; hand washing and avoiding handshakes in the social distancing model.

CONCLUSION

Compliance with the three key preventive measures against COVID-19 was high in the Rwandan community and these measures were interdependent. Therefore, the importance of all three measures should be emphasised for effective disease control.

Understanding the associations between information sources, sociodemographics, and views on public health measures: evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria

BACKGROUND

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it was a key priority for governments globally to ensure agreement with, and subsequently adherence to, imposed public health measures, specifically non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). Prior research in this regard highlighted the role of COVID-19 information sources as well as sociodemographic and other personal characteristics, however, there is only limited evidence including both. To bridge this gap, this study investigated the associations of COVID-19 information sources such as social media and participant characteristics with agreement with and adherence to NPIs during the first lockdown in Austria.

METHODS

An online survey was conducted in May 2020 among adult Austrian residents asking about their experiences during the first lockdown. Collected data included sociodemographic characteristics, main COVID-19-related information sources, agreement with/adherence to three NPIs (no physical contact to family members not living in the same household, leisurely walks restricted to members of the same household, mandatory face masks) and information about perceived social support using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), anxiety/depression levels using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), whether participants felt well advised by the government, and whether participants perceived the pandemic to threaten their income. Ordered and multinomial logistic regression models were employed to achieve the research aims.

RESULTS

The cross-sectional sample consisted of 559 Austrian residents. Using social media as main COVID-19 information source was consistently associated with lower agreement with NPIs. A positive association with agreement with measures was found for higher educational backgrounds and higher anxiety levels. By contrast, higher levels of depression, not feeling well advised by the government, and perceiving the pandemic as an economic threat were negatively associated with agreement with measures. Moreover, the use of social media as main COVID-19 information source and not feeling well advised by the government were associated with lower adherence to NPIs. By contrast, higher levels of education were associated with higher adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

This comprehensive analysis emphasizes the associations of COVID-19 information sources as well as sociodemographic and other participant characteristics with agreement with and adherence to NPIs, bearing important implications for future public health crisis communication strategies.

Characteristics of adults who reported not having had COVID-19 in Spain after the first two years of the pandemic and associated factors

BACKGROUND

There is little evidence regarding the characteristics of adults who self-reported not having had COVID-19 after two years of the pandemic. This study aimed to analyse the characteristics of no-COVID-19 respondents and the associated factors to better understand which may have conditioned not having had the disease as guidance to help in the design of better public health strategies.

METHODS

This cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in the Spanish general population in a representative sample of 1051 adults who completed an online survey in September 2022. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess which factors were related to reporting not having had COVID-19.

RESULTS

Almost half of the respondents (47.8%) reported not having ever had COVID-19. Significant differences were found between people who reported having had and not having had COVID-19 according to sex, age, education level, employment and living with children. No-COVID-19 respondents had greater concern and less fear of the disease and were more worried about the new variants. After the multivariable analysis, factors associated with no-COVID-19 respondents were male sex (OR)=1.40; 95% (CI=1.07-1.82), older age (OR=1.01; 95% CI=1.01-1.03), having a greater perception of disease severity if infected (OR=4.71; 95% CI=2.97-7.47), greater adherence to preventive measures (OR=1.02; 95% CI=1.01-1.03), and having received a complete vaccination schedule and booster dose (OR=1.56; 95% CI=1.03-2.36).

CONCLUSIONS

Analysing the characteristics of people reporting not having had COVID-19 can support public health decision-makers in designing better interventions and facilitating the implementation of effective prevention and control measures to prepare for and respond to a possible future pandemic.