Identifying targets for interventions to support public use of face coverings

Abstract

Objectives: Interventions to promote the wearing of face coverings if required in the future can only be developed if we know why people do or do not wear them. Study aims were, therefore, to assess public adherence to wearing face coverings to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and to gauge why people were or were not wearing face coverings in work, public transport, and indoor leisure settings. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Methods: 10,622 adults (25 January-6 February 2022) who were representative of the UK population were asked about their (a) wearing of face coverings in work, public transport, and leisure settings; (b) sociodemographic characteristics; and (c) perceptions of capabilities, opportunities, and motivations ("COM-B"). Data were analysed descriptively, using within-participants ANOVA and multiple linear regression. Results: Participants reported mostly wearing face coverings in public transport settings (>80%), but substantially less in work (<50%) and leisure (<30%) contexts. Perceptions of capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to wear face coverings were consistently associated with the actual wearing of face coverings across the three settings, but there were marked deficits in automatic motivation and | 209 PUBLIC USE OF FACE COVERINGS

Can the capabilities, opportunities and motivations model predict health behavior 1 year later?

“…Compared with previous research on COM-B (Armitage et al, 2023; Armitage, Keyworth, et al, 2021; Keyworth et al, 2020), automatic motivation, which reflects people's habits and emotional reactions was particularly low. For example, mean automatic motivation in the present study was 4.21 whereas in Armitage et al’s (2023) study, mean automatic motivation was 6.13, 7.93, and 5.63 in relation to wearing face coverings in work, public transport, and indoor leisure settings, respectively. This means that interventions designed to boost automatic motivation and help people regulate their emotions may need to be deployed.…”

“…Participants were a representative sample of 2,252 U.K. adults who were asked about their adherence to the U.K. government's COVID-19-related instructions and their capabilities, opportunities, and motivations to do so. Comparable with the Keyworth et al (2020) study and with a more recent study examining adherence to the wearing of face coverings among 10,622 adults representative of the U.K. population (Armitage et al, 2023), COM explained significant proportions of the variance in behavior and each of the six COM components was predictive of adherence (Armitage et al, 2023;Armitage, Keyworth, et al, 2021). However, the cross-sectional design of Armitage, Keyworth, et al's (2021) and Armitage et al's (2023) studies represent a significant limitation.…”

Analysis of the Face Mask Use by Public Transport Passengers and Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…The proper way to wear a face mask assumes that it fits snugly to the face; the lower edge of the mask covers the chin, whereas the upper edge covers the tip of the nose and nostrils. In Saudi Arabia, 73% of residents wore face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic on public transport [ 12 ], and, in the UK, 82.6% [ 11 ]. However, in Hanoi, Vietnam, there is a greater adherence of the population to this measure of nonpharmaceutical prevention: 100% of passengers wore face masks, and only 11% wore them incorrectly [ 6 ].…”

“…These include people who consider themselves vulnerable to infection with the virus and those who feel responsible for both their health and the health of their loved ones, elderly men and women [ 7 , 8 ], middle-aged women [ 8 , 9 ], urban residents [ 9 ], and people who had cases of infection in the family [ 10 ]. Face masks are worn less frequently by those who perceive themselves to be immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus—young people of both sexes [ 8 ] and men aged 18 to 39 years [ 7 , 8 , 11 ]. People wear a face mask more often on public transport than at work or leisure [ 11 ] or in other public places [ 12 ], and more often in the subway than on above-ground public transport [ 8 ].…”

“…Face masks are worn less frequently by those who perceive themselves to be immune to the SARS-CoV-2 virus—young people of both sexes [ 8 ] and men aged 18 to 39 years [ 7 , 8 , 11 ]. People wear a face mask more often on public transport than at work or leisure [ 11 ] or in other public places [ 12 ], and more often in the subway than on above-ground public transport [ 8 ].…”