Adherence to COVID-19 preventive measures in Sub-Saharan Africa during the 1st year of the pandemic: Pooled analysis of the International Citizen Project on COVID-19 (ICPCovid) surveys.
Front Public Health
; 10: 1020801, 2022.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-2142352
ABSTRACT
Introduction:
While most governments instituted several interventions to stall the spread of COVID-19, little is known regarding the continued observance of the non-pharmaceutical COVID-19 preventive measures particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). We investigated adherence to these preventive measures during the initial 6 months of the COVID-19 outbreak in some SSA countries.Methods:
Between March and August 2020, the International Citizen Project on COVID-19 consortium (www.icpcovid.com) conducted online surveys in six SSA countries Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, Somalia, and Uganda. A five-point individual adherence score was constituted by scoring respondents' observance of the followingmeasures:
mask use, physical distancing, hand hygiene, coughing hygiene, and avoiding to touch one's face. Community behaviors (going to public places, traveling during the pandemic) were also assessed. Data were analyzed in two time periods Period 1 (March-May) and Period 2 (June-August).Results:
Responses from 26,678 respondents were analyzed (mean age 31.0 ± 11.1 years; 54.1% males). Mean individual adherence score decreased from 3.80 ± 1.37 during Period 1, to 3.57 ± 1.43 during Period 2; p < 0.001. At the community level, public events/places were significantly more attended with increased travels during Period 2 compared to Period 1 (p < 0.001). Using linear mixed models, predictors of increased individual adherence included higher age (Coef = 0.005; 95% CI 0.003-0.007), female gender (Coef = 0.071; 95% CI 0.039-0.104), higher educational level (Coef = 0.999; 95% CI 0.885-1.113), and working in the healthcare sector (Coef = 0.418; 95% CI 0.380-0.456).Conclusion:
Decreasing adherence to non-pharmaceutical measures over time constitutes a risk for the persistence of COVID-19 in SSA. Younger persons and those with lower education levels constitute target groups for improving adherence to such measures.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
Limits:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Young adult
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
Front Public Health
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Fpubh.2022.1020801
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS