Assessing factors associated with compliance to preventive measures of COVID-19 in Rwanda: a cross-sectional community survey.
BMJ Open
; 14(7): e078610, 2024 Jul 24.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-39053965
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the level of compliance with COVID-19 preventive measures and compliance-associated factors in the Rwanda community.DESIGN:
Cross-sectional study. SETTINGS Country-wide community survey in Rwanda.PARTICIPANTS:
4763 participants were randomly sampled following the sampling frame used for the recent Rwanda Demographic Health Survey. Participants were aged between 22 years and 94 years.OUTCOMES:
The participants' compliance with three preventive measures (wearing a face mask, washing hands and social distancing) was the main outcome.METHODS:
From 14 February 2022 to 27 February 2022, a cross-sectional survey using telephone calls was conducted. Study questionnaires included different questions such as participants' demographics and compliance with COVID-19 preventives measures. Verbal consent was obtained from each participant. The compliance on three main preventive measures (wearing a mask, washing hands and social distancing) were the main outcomes. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to evaluate factors associated with compliance (age, gender, level of education, socioeconomic status).RESULTS:
Compliance with the three primary preventive measures (washing hands 98%, wearing a mask 97% and observing social distance 98%) was at a rate of 95%. The respondents' mean age was 46±11 SD (range 22-98) years. In addition, 69% were female and 86% had attended primary education. Bivariate and regression analyses indicated a significant association among the three primary preventive measures (p<0.05). The results showed factors associated significantly between the different models (p<0.05) proper mask use and social distancing in the hand washing model; hand washing, social distancing, avoiding handshakes and not attending gatherings in the proper mask use model; hand washing and avoiding handshakes in the social distancing model.CONCLUSION:
Compliance with the three key preventive measures against COVID-19 was high in the Rwandan community and these measures were interdependent. Therefore, the importance of all three measures should be emphasised for effective disease control.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Hand Disinfection
/
Physical Distancing
/
SARS-CoV-2
/
COVID-19
/
Masks
Limits:
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Middle aged
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
En
Journal:
BMJ Open
/
BMJ open
Year:
2024
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Rwanda
Country of publication:
United kingdom