Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Tasmanian School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart Tasmania 7001, Australia.
Hong Kong Med J. 2021 Apr;27(2):106-112. doi: 10.12809/hkmj209015. Epub 2021 Mar 25.
Community face mask use during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has considerably differed worldwide. Generally, Asians are more inclined to wear face masks during disease outbreaks. Hong Kong has emerged relatively unscathed during the initial outbreak of COVID-19, despite its dense population. Previous infectious disease outbreaks influenced the local masking behaviour and response to public health measures. Thus, local behavioural insights are important for the successful implementation of infection control measures. This study explored the behaviour and attitudes of wearing face masks in the community during the initial spread of COVID-19 in Hong Kong.
We observed the masking behaviour of 10 211 pedestrians in several regions across Hong Kong from 1 to 29 February 2020. We supplemented the data with an online survey of 3199 respondents' views on face mask use.
Among pedestrians, the masking rate was 94.8%; 83.7% wore disposable surgical masks. However, 13.0% wore surgical masks incorrectly with 42.5% worn too low, exposing the nostrils or mouth; 35.5% worn 'inside-out' or 'upside-down'. Most online respondents believed in the efficacy of wearing face mask for protection (94.6%) and prevention of community spread (96.6%). Surprisingly, 78.9% reused their mask; more respondents obtained information from social media (65.9%) than from government websites (23.2%).
In Hong Kong, members of the population are motivated to wear masks and believe in the effectiveness of face masks against disease spread. However, a high mask reuse rate and errors in masking techniques were observed. Information on government websites should be enhanced and their accessibility should be improved.
在 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行期间，全球社区口罩使用情况存在较大差异。一般来说，亚洲人在疾病爆发期间更倾向于戴口罩。尽管香港人口稠密，但在 COVID-19 疫情初期，香港相对未受影响。以前的传染病暴发影响了当地的口罩使用行为和对公共卫生措施的反应。因此，当地的行为洞察力对于成功实施感染控制措施很重要。本研究探讨了 COVID-19 在香港初期传播期间社区中戴口罩的行为和态度。
我们从 2020 年 2 月 1 日至 29 日在香港的几个地区观察了 10211 名行人的口罩佩戴行为。我们通过对 3199 名受访者对面罩使用看法的在线调查补充了数据。
在行人中，口罩佩戴率为 94.8%；83.7%佩戴一次性医用口罩。然而，13.0%的人口罩佩戴不正确，其中 42.5%口罩佩戴过低，暴露了鼻孔或嘴部；35.5%的人将口罩“戴反了”或“戴颠倒了”。大多数在线受访者相信戴口罩对保护自己和预防社区传播有效果（94.6%和 96.6%）。令人惊讶的是，78.9%的人重复使用他们的口罩；更多的受访者从社交媒体（65.9%）获取信息，而不是从政府网站（23.2%）获取信息。
在香港，民众有戴口罩的动机，并且相信口罩可以有效防止疾病传播。然而，我们观察到口罩重复使用率高和口罩佩戴技术错误的情况。应加强政府网站上的信息，并提高其可及性。
