Determinants of Face Mask Utilization to Prevent Covid-19 Pandemic among Quarantined Adults in Tigrai Region, Northern Ethiopia, 2020.
Mekonnen Haftom, Pammla M Petrucka
PMID 33955280WHAT IT FOUND
Forty-six percent of quarantined adults did not wear a mask when leaving home.
Older age, higher education, better knowledge, male sex, and public or private employment were associated with mask use.
Key findings
01Forty-six percent of quarantined adults did not use a face mask when leaving home.
02Older age was associated with higher odds of mask use: ages 30 to 49 had 2.5 times higher odds and ages 50 or older had 12 times higher odds than ages 18 to 29.
03Acceptable knowledge and college or university education were associated with higher odds of mask use: 2 times higher for knowledgeable participants and 8.1 times higher for those who completed college or university than those who could not read or write.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it can show associations at one time point but not prove that any factor caused mask use. Mask use was collected by questionnaire, not observed, so it may reflect what participants said they did rather than what they actually did. Participants were already in quarantine and had received education about the pandemic before interviews, so their behaviour may not represent people in the wider community. The study was small and limited to the Tigrai Region, so the results may not apply to other places or later periods. The study used a specific knowledge score cutoff to define acceptable knowledge, so the finding depends on that definition.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that education, age, or knowledge caused mask use, or that the results apply to all community settings. The study was cross-sectional and self-reported, and participants had already received pandemic education before interviews.