Facemask wearing to prevent COVID-19 transmission and associated factors among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background The World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out that urban taxi drivers and their passengers are at higher risk of transmitting coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) due to frequent contact among many people. Facemask wearing is one of the preventive measures recommended to control the transmission of the virus. A lack of evidence of the proportion of facemask wearing among taxi drivers and associated factors in Ethiopia, including Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, hinders the design of targeted interventions to advocate for facemask use. This study was designed to address this gap. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 417 taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town from July to August, 2020. The study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique after proportionally allocating the sample size from the total number of taxi drivers working in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. The data were collected by trained data collectors using a structured questionnaire and an on-the-spot observational checklist. The collected data were checked, coded and entered to EpiData version 4.6 and exported to Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 for data cleaning and analysis. Bivariate (Crude Odds Ratio [COR]) and multivariable (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR]) logistic regression analyses were employed using 95% CI (confidence interval). From bivariate logistic regression analysis, variables with p-value < 0.250 were retained into multivariable logistic regression analysis. Then, from the multivariable analysis, variables with p-value < 0.050 were declared as factors significantly associated with facemask wearing among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. Main findings The proportion of taxi drivers who wore a facemask was 54.68% [95%CI: 50.10–59.7%]. The majority (58.3%) of drivers were using cloth facemasks, followed by N95 facemasks (24.5%) and surgical facemasks (17.3%). Out of the total 417 taxi drivers, more than two-thirds (69.8%) of them had a good knowledge about COVID-19 and 67.6% of taxi drivers had a positive attitude towards taking precautions against transmission of COVID-19. Three-fourths (74.1%) of the taxi drivers believed that wearing a facemask could prevent COVID-19. More than half (52.5%) felt discomfort when wearing a facemask. Almost three-fourths (72.2%) of taxi drivers felt that the presence of local government pressure helped them to wear a facemask. We found that marital status [AOR = 3.14, 95%CI: 1.97–5.01], fear of the disease [AOR = 2.1, 95%CI: 1.28–3.47], belief in the effectiveness of a facemask [AOR = 5.6, 95%CI: 3.1–10.16] and feeling government pressure [AOR = 3.6, 95%CI: 2.16–6.13] were factors significantly associated with wearing a facemask. Conclusion We found that the proportion of facemask wearers among taxi drivers was relatively low in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town. In order to increase that number, government bodies should work aggressively to encourage more taxi drivers to wear a facemask. We also recommend that government and non-government organizations work very closely together to implement strategies that promote facemask use, including increasing the availability of inexpensive facemasks, and monitoring and controlling facemask use.

Use of facemasks during the covid-19 pandemic in southeastern Nigeria: an observational study

“…The most commonly used facemask was the cloth facemask. This was also found in a similar study in other parts of Africa [27]. Theuse of cloth facemask is highly recommended by the US CDC because most people can afford it and the ease with which it can be managed when compared to the other types of facemasks [28,29].…”

COVID-19 knowledge, attitude and frequent hand hygiene practices among taxi drivers and associated factors in urban areas of Ethiopia

“…A total of nine taxi fermatas (also called taxi stands [24]) were selected randomly from the total fermatas found in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town (five fermatas selected in Dessie City out of the nine fermatas and 4 fermatas selected in Kombolcha town out of the 8 fermatas). Sample size for Dessie City and Kombolcha Town were proportionally allocated to determine the number of taxi drivers to be included from each fermata.…”

Assessing face mask littering in urban environments and policy implications: The case of Bangkok

“…On the other hand, the preference is contrary to the type of mask-wearing among taxi drivers in Dessie City, Ethiopia. In this study, the majority of the taxi drivers use cloth masks (58.3%), followed by N95 face masks (24.5%) and surgical masks (17.3%) ( Natnael et al, 2021 ).…”