Attitudes and Behaviours Regarding COVID-19 Mitigation Strategies in Australians With an Underlying Health Condition: A Cross-Sectional Study.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Public health strategies have focused on preventing and slowing the transmission of COVID-19 by promoting the uptake of mitigation strategies. However, little is known about the uptake of these strategies in the presence of underlying health conditions. OBJECTIVES: To describe the attitudes and behaviours of a sample of Australians towards COVID-19 mitigation strategies, and determine if uptake of these strategies differed across different health conditions. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: National survey of Australian residents over 18 years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: A purpose-built survey was used to collect participants' attitudes and behaviours towards COVID-19 mitigation strategies. RESULTS: Over half (53%) of the 2867 participants (99% completion rate) reported having one or more comorbidities. The most commonly self-reported health condition was cardiometabolic conditions (28%). Most participants disagreed that masks were no longer needed (74%) and wanted the 5-day isolation mandate (66%). More than one-third would like masks to be mandated for indoor spaces (38%) and 25% avoided going to hospitals. Participants with allergies (OR 1.37; 95% CI 1.14, 1.65), cardiometabolic (OR 1.49; 95% CI 1.23, 1.79), respiratory (OR 1.32; 95% CI 1.07, 1.62) and neurological (OR 1.62; 95% CI 1.12, 2.32) conditions were more likely to avoid using public transport compared to those without. In contrast, participants with underlying mental health conditions were less likely to use N95/P2 facemasks in public spaces (OR 0.46; 95% CI 0.25, 0.87) compared to those without. CONCLUSIONS: A substantial proportion of Australians continued to adopt COVID-19 mitigation measures or expressed a desire for more mitigations, including mandatory isolation for COVID-19, despite the lack of mandates. People with an underlying health condition who represent more than half of all adults appear to be more careful with mitigations to avoid COVID-19. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION Members of the public were invited to participate in a soft launch of the survey between 4th and 5th January 2023 to test flow and functionality, and to allow the final wording of survey questions to be refined as required.