School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
Center for Energy and Environmental Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 26;18(9):4577. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094577.
Face masks are considered an effective intervention in controlling the spread of airborne viruses, as evidenced by the 2009's H1N1 swine flu and 2003's severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreaks. However, research aiming to examine public willingness to wear (WTW) face masks in Pakistan are scarce. The current research aims to overcome this research void and contributes by expanding the theoretical mechanism of theory of planned behavior (TPB) to include three novel dimensions (risk perceptions of the pandemic, perceived benefits of face masks, and unavailability of face masks) to comprehensively analyze the factors that motivate people to, or inhibit people from, wearing face masks. The study is based on an inclusive questionnaire survey of a sample of 738 respondents in the provincial capitals of Pakistan, namely, Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Gilgit, and Quetta. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to analyze the proposed hypotheses. The results show that attitude, social norms, risk perceptions of the pandemic, and perceived benefits of face masks are the major influencing factors that positively affect public WTW face masks, whereas the cost of face masks and unavailability of face masks tend to have opposite effects. The results emphasize the need to enhance risk perceptions by publicizing the deadly effects of COVID-19 on the environment and society, ensure the availability of face masks at an affordable price, and make integrated and coherent efforts to highlight the benefits that face masks offer.
口罩被认为是控制空气传播病毒传播的有效干预措施，2009 年的 H1N1 猪流感和 2003 年的严重急性呼吸系统综合症 (SARS) 爆发就是明证。然而，针对巴基斯坦公众戴口罩意愿 (WTW) 的研究很少。目前的研究旨在克服这一研究空白，并通过将计划行为理论 (TPB) 的理论机制扩展到包括三个新的维度（对大流行的风险认知、口罩的感知益处和口罩的不可用性）来全面分析促使人们戴口罩或抑制人们戴口罩的因素。该研究基于对巴基斯坦省会城市（拉合尔、白沙瓦、卡拉奇、吉尔吉特和奎达）的 738 名受访者的综合问卷调查。结构方程模型 (SEM) 用于分析所提出的假设。结果表明，态度、社会规范、对大流行的风险认知和口罩的感知益处是积极影响公众 WTW 口罩的主要影响因素，而口罩的成本和口罩的不可用性则倾向于产生相反的影响。结果强调需要通过宣传 COVID-19 对环境和社会的致命影响来增强风险认知，确保以可承受的价格提供口罩，并做出综合一致的努力来突出口罩的益处。
