Use of facemask during the COVID-19 pandemic in Southeastern Nigeria: an observational study 10.55131/jphd/2022/200209
Main Article Content
Abstract
The use of facemask for the control of the spread of the novel corona virus among the population has been recommended by the health authorities. This is as a result of its effectiveness in the control of various infectious respiratory diseases during past epidemics and pandemics. This observational study was carried out to assess the frequency of use, appropriateness of application, type, and the quality of the used facemasks among the residents of southeastern Nigeria during the COVID-19 pandemic and to be able to draw inference from this observation on whether facemask usage can aid in controlling the spread of the disease in the study area and the country at large. Using a two-stage sampling technique, a total of 3100 individuals were observed for the type, quality, appropriateness, and frequency of facemasks usage from both rural and urban settings in the study area. Frequency distribution tables were used to categorize and describe the observed variables, Chi-square (X2) test was used to check the association between categorical variables. Among the observed individuals, 46.4% used facemasks. The most common facemask used was cloth mask (28.6%). About 16.0% of the participants correctly used their facemasks. The highest usage was observed in the urban location (49.2%). More people used facemasks in urban areas (p<0.001), in the bank (p< 0.001), in the morning (p< 0.001) among the males (p< 0.001), and among the adolescents (p< 0.001). The observed rate of facemask usage, however, may not be good enough to protect the population against the spread of COVID-19, therefore adequate sensitization on the need for proper use of facemasks by the public should be prioritized.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19):Similarities and differences with influenza. Geneva: WHO [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 July 4]. Avialable from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-similarities-and-differences-with-influenza.
Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19):Latest updates on the COVID-19 crisis from Africa CDC. COVID-19 [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 June 16]. Avialable from:https://www.africacdc.org/covid-19/.
Nigeria Center for Disease Control.Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Update [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 May 17]. Avialable from: https://ncdc.gov.ng/.
Achaiah NC, Subbarajasetty SB, Shetty RM. R(0) and R(e) of COVID-19: Can We Predict When the Pandemic Outbreak will be Contained? Indian J Crit Care Med. 2020;24(11):1125-7. doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10071-23649
Spouge JL. A comprehensive estimation of country-level basic reproduction numbers R0 for COVID-19: Regime regression can automatically estimate the end of the exponential phase in epidemic data. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(7):e0254145.
Zhong BL, Luo W, Li HM, Zhang QQ, Liu XG, Li WT, et al. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices towards COVID-19 among Chinese residents during the rapid rise period of the COVID-19 outbreak: a quick online cross-sectional survey. Int J Biol Sci. 2020;16(10):1745-52.
World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted? Geneva [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 June 12]. Avialable from:
https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted.
World Health Organization. All about facemask in the context of COVID-19. Geneva [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 June 15]. Avialable from: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/when-and-how-to-use masks?
Edet CK, Harry AM, Wegbom AI, Raimi O, Fagbamigbe AF, Kiri VA. Face Mask Utilization in the Era of COVID-19: Nigeria Experience. IJTDH. 2020;41(24):1-8. doi: 10.9734/ijtdh/2020/v41i2430420
Kumar J, Katto MS, Siddiqui AA, Sahito B, Jamil M, Rasheed N, et al. Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices of Healthcare Workers Regarding the Use of Face Mask to Limit the Spread of the New Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). Cureus. 2020;12(4):e7737.
Tan M, Wang Y, Luo L, Hu J. How the public used face masks in China during the coronavirus disease pandemic: A survey study. Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;115:103853.
Wang C, López-Núñez MI, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, et al. The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Physical and Mental Health in China and Spain: Cross-sectional Study. JMIR Form Res. 2021;5(5):e27818. doi: 10.2196/27818
Beckage B, Buckley TE, Beckage ME. Prevalence of Face Mask Wearing in Northern Vermont in Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Public Health Rep. 2021;136(4):451-6.
Rahimi Z, Shirali GA, Araban M, Mohammadi MJ, Cheraghian B. Mask use among pedestrians during the Covid-19 pandemic in Southwest Iran: an observational study on 10,440 people. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10152-2.
Umeha C. NIDS warns against misuse, abuse of facemasks to prevent COVID-19. Independent Newspapers Nigeria [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Mar 15]. Avialable from: https://www.independent.ng/nids-warns-against-misuse-abuse-of-face-masks-to-prevent-covid-19/.
Ogoina D. COVID-19: The Need for Rational Use of Face Masks in Nigeria. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020;103(1):33-4. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-0433
Oyeyemi T. Remarks by the SGF/Chairman of the PTF COVID-19 at the National Briefing of Wednesday, 6th May, 2020 in National Briefing on COVID-19 [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2020 Apr 20]. Avialable from: https://fmic.gov.ng/remarks-by-the- sgf-chairman-of-the-ptfcovid19-at-the-nati.
Bai Y, Yao L, Wei T, Tian F, Jin DY, Chen L, et al. Presumed Asymptomatic Carrier Transmission of COVID-19. JAMA. 2020;323(14):1406-7.
Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S, Solo K, Yaacoub S, Schünemann HJ. Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet. 2020;395(10242):1973-87.
Eikenberry SE, Mancuso M, Iboi E, Phan T, Eikenberry K, Kuang Y, et al. To mask or not to mask: Modeling the potential for face mask use by the general public to curtail the COVID-19 pandemic. Infect Dis Model. 2020;5:293-308. doi: 10.1016/j.idm.2020.04.001
Viola IM, Peterson B, Pisetta G, Pavar G, Akhtar H, Menoloascina F, et al. Face Coverings, Aerosol Dispersion and Mitigation of Virus Transmission Risk. IEEE Open J Eng Med Biol. 2021;2:26-35.
Martin G, Hanna E, Dingwall R. Face masks for the public during Covid-19: an appeal for caution in policy; 2020.
Wang G, Zhang Y, Zhao J, Zhang J, Jiang F. Mitigate the effects of home confinement on children during the COVID-19 outbreak. Lancet. 2020;395(10228):945-7. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30547-X.
Lyu W, Wehby GL. Community use of face masks and COVID-19: evidence from a natural experiment of state mandates in the US Health Aff. Millwood: PMID; 2020. p.1419–25.
Larsen D. Homemade cloth face masks to fight the COVID19 pandemic; a call for mass public masking with homemade cloth masks. 2020.
Flaskerud JH. Masks, politics, culture and health. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2020;41(9):846–9.
Abrahão JS, Sacchetto L, Rezende IM, Rodrigues RAL, Crispim APC, Moura C, et al. Detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA on public surfaces in a densely populated urban area of Brazil: A potential tool for monitoring the circulation of infected patients. Sci Total Environ. 2021;766:142645. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.142645
Colorafi KJ, Evans B. Qualitative Descriptive Methods in Health Science Research. Herd. 2016;9(4):16-25.
Thiese MS. Observational and interventional study design types; an overview. Biochem Med (Zagreb). 2014;24(2):199-210.
Emeribeole A, Iheaturu C. Land Use/ Land Cover dynamics and Urban Sprawling Movement (A Case Study of Owerri, Imo State Nigeria). IJREST. 2016;3(3):54–60.
Bukhari SA. Sample Size Determination Using Krejcie and Morgan Table [Internet]. 2020 [2021 Feb 2]. Avialable from: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11445.19687.
Guan W-j, Ni Z-y, Hu Y, Liang W-h, Ou C-q, He J-x, et al. Clinical Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 in China. NEJM. 2020;382(18):1708-20.
Ajimotokan O. Nigeria: Buhari signs regulations making use of Facemaskmandatory. This Day News Paper [Internet]. 2021 [cited 2021 Aug 5]. Avialable from: https://www.allafrica.com/stories/20210128274.html.
Abid K, Imran A, Bari Y, Ziadi T, Khambati Z, Younus M, et al. Adherence of facemask during covid-19 pandemic among south Asian countries. Research Square. 2020. doi : https//doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-113617/v1.
Leffler CT, Ing E, Lykins JD, Hogan MC, McKeown CA, Grzybowski A. Association of Country-wide Coronavirus Mortality with Demographics, Testing, Lockdowns, and Public Wearing of Masks. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2020;103(6):2400-11. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1015
Gut PW. Expert about masks. “Going out in the street, I collect everything, they should be burned”. Poland; 2020.
Ganczak M, Pasek O, Duda – Duma Ł, Świstara D, Korzeń M. Use of masks in public places in Poland during SARS-Cov-2 epidemic: a covert observational study. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):393. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-10418-3
Rahimi Z, Shirali GA, Araban M, Mohammadi MJ, Cheraghian B. Mask use among pedestrians during the Covid-19 pandemic in Southwest Iran: an observational study on 10,440 people. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):133. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-10152-2
Boulos MNK. Location-based health information services: a new paradigm in personalised information delivery. Int J Health Geogr. 2003;2(1):2. doi: https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072x-2-2.
OECD. Educational attainment of the labour force. In OECD Education at a glance [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 March 7]. Avialable from: https://www.oecd.org/els/emp/3888221.pdf.
Westlake G, Coall D, Grueter CC. Educational attainment is associated with unconditional helping behaviour. Evolutionary Human Sciences. 2019;1:e15. doi: https://doi.org/DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2019.16.
Natnael T, Alemnew Y, Berihun G, Abebe M, Andualem A, Ademe S, et al. Facemask wearing to prevent COVID-19 transmission and associated factors among taxi drivers in Dessie City and Kombolcha Town, Ethiopia. PLOS ONE. 2021;16(3):e0247954. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0247954.
Chughtai AA, Seale H, Macintyre CR. Effectiveness of Cloth Masks for Protection Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2. Emerg Infect Dis. 2020;26(10).
Chen N, Zhou M, Dong X, Qu J, Gong F, Han Y, et al. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2020;395(10223):507-13. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7
Tan M, Wang Y, Luo L, Hu J. How the public used face masks in China during the coronavirus disease pandemic: A survey study. Int J Nurs Stud. 2021;115:103853.
Tam VCW, Tam SY, Poon WK, Law HKW, Lee SWY. A reality check on the use of face masks during the COVID-19 outbreak in Hong Kong. eClinicalMedicine. 2020;22.
Nguyen DN, Le HT, Thai PK, Le XTT, Hoang MT, Vu LG, et al. Evaluating Training Need for Epidemic Control in Three Metropolitans: Implications for COVID-19 Preparedness in Vietnam. Front Public Health. 2020;8:589331. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.589331