TY - JOUR
T1 - Prevalence of COVID-19 Mitigation Behaviors in US Adults (August-December 2020)
T2 - Nationwide Household Probability Survey
AU - Sanchez, Travis
AU - Hall, Eric
AU - Siegler, Aaron J.
AU - Prakash-Asrani, Radhika
AU - Bradley, Heather
AU - Fahimi, Mansour
AU - Lopman, Benjamin
AU - Luisi, Nicole
AU - Nelson, Kristin N.
AU - Sailey, Charles
AU - Shioda, Kayoko
AU - Valentine-Graves, Mariah
AU - Sullivan, Patrick S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s).
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Background: COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and practicing hand hygiene, have been and will remain vital to slowing the pandemic. Objective: This study aims to describe the period prevalence of consistent mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene practices during the peak of COVID-19 incidence (August-December 2020) and just before COVID-19 vaccine availability, overall and in demographic subgroups. Methods: We used baseline survey data from a nationwide household probability sample to generate weighted estimates of mitigation behaviors: wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and practicing hand hygiene. Weighted logistic regression explored differences in mitigation behaviors by demographics. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified patterns in mitigation behaviors. Results: Among 4654 participants, most (n=2727, 58.6%) were female, were non-Hispanic White (n=3063, 65.8%), were aged 55 years or older (n=2099, 45.1%), lived in the South (n=2275, 48.9%), lived in metropolitan areas (n=4186, 89.9%), had at least a bachelor’s degree (n=2547, 54.7%), had an income of US $50,000-$99,000 (n=1445, 31%), and were privately insured (n=2734, 58.7%). The period prevalence of consistent mask wearing was 71.1% (sample-weighted 95% CI 68.8-73.3); consistent social distancing, 42.9% (95% CI 40.5-45.3); frequent handwashing, 55.0% (95% CI 52.3-57.7); and frequent hand sanitizing, 21.5% (95% CI 19.4-23.8). Mitigation behaviors were more prevalent among women, older persons, Black or Hispanic persons, those who were not college graduates, and service-oriented workers. LCA identified an optimal-mitigation class that consistently practiced all behaviors (n=2656, 67% of US adults), a low-mitigation class that inconsistently practiced all behaviors (n=771, 20.6%), and a class that had optimal masking and social distancing but a high frequency of hand hygiene (n=463, 12.4%). Conclusions: Despite a high prevalence of COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, there were likely millions who did not consistently practice these behaviors during the time of the highest COVID-19 incidence. In future infectious disease outbreak responses, public health authorities should also consider addressing disparities in mitigation practices through more targeted prevention messaging.
AB - Background: COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, such as wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and practicing hand hygiene, have been and will remain vital to slowing the pandemic. Objective: This study aims to describe the period prevalence of consistent mask-wearing, social distancing, and hand hygiene practices during the peak of COVID-19 incidence (August-December 2020) and just before COVID-19 vaccine availability, overall and in demographic subgroups. Methods: We used baseline survey data from a nationwide household probability sample to generate weighted estimates of mitigation behaviors: wearing masks, maintaining social distancing, and practicing hand hygiene. Weighted logistic regression explored differences in mitigation behaviors by demographics. Latent class analysis (LCA) identified patterns in mitigation behaviors. Results: Among 4654 participants, most (n=2727, 58.6%) were female, were non-Hispanic White (n=3063, 65.8%), were aged 55 years or older (n=2099, 45.1%), lived in the South (n=2275, 48.9%), lived in metropolitan areas (n=4186, 89.9%), had at least a bachelor’s degree (n=2547, 54.7%), had an income of US $50,000-$99,000 (n=1445, 31%), and were privately insured (n=2734, 58.7%). The period prevalence of consistent mask wearing was 71.1% (sample-weighted 95% CI 68.8-73.3); consistent social distancing, 42.9% (95% CI 40.5-45.3); frequent handwashing, 55.0% (95% CI 52.3-57.7); and frequent hand sanitizing, 21.5% (95% CI 19.4-23.8). Mitigation behaviors were more prevalent among women, older persons, Black or Hispanic persons, those who were not college graduates, and service-oriented workers. LCA identified an optimal-mitigation class that consistently practiced all behaviors (n=2656, 67% of US adults), a low-mitigation class that inconsistently practiced all behaviors (n=771, 20.6%), and a class that had optimal masking and social distancing but a high frequency of hand hygiene (n=463, 12.4%). Conclusions: Despite a high prevalence of COVID-19 mitigation behaviors, there were likely millions who did not consistently practice these behaviors during the time of the highest COVID-19 incidence. In future infectious disease outbreak responses, public health authorities should also consider addressing disparities in mitigation practices through more targeted prevention messaging.
KW - COVID-19
KW - disease prevention
KW - hand sanitizer
KW - handwashing
KW - health policy
KW - hygiene
KW - latent class analysis
KW - mask
KW - mitigation behavior
KW - pandemic
KW - public health
KW - risk factor
KW - social distancing
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U2 - 10.2196/37102
DO - 10.2196/37102
M3 - Article
C2 - 38055314
AN - SCOPUS:85178850941
SN - 2369-2960
VL - 9
JO - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
JF - JMIR Public Health and Surveillance
IS - 1
M1 - e37102
ER -