Department of Health Education, Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, China.
JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022 May 26;8(5):e32278. doi: 10.2196/32278.
The novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 is likely to spread from person to person in close-contact settings. The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention released a handbook on COVID-19, which introduced health information to the public, specifically related to wearing masks correctly and adopting preventive measures to avoid COVID-19 infection.
The aim of this study was to assess the level of mask knowledge, behavior related to mask usage, and major information channels used for obtaining mask- and COVID-19-related information in China.
An internet-based survey was conducted primarily using DingXiang Doctor WeChat public accounts. The data about mask knowledge and behavior were collected and analyzed. In addition to descriptive statistics, logistic regression was used to analyze significant risk factors contributing to protective mask behavior.
Data were collected from a total of 10,304 respondents to the survey. More than half of the respondents were under 30 years old and nearly three-quarters were women. Over 80% of participants had a bachelor's degree or higher, and the largest proportion of respondents (n=4204, 40.80%) were employed as business/service workers. Over half of the study participants were married (n=5302, 51.46%). The findings revealed that 67.49% (6954/10,304) of the participants practiced protective mask behavior; 97.93% (10,091/10,304) believed that wearing masks is an effective protective measure against COVID-19; 96.85% (9979/10,304) chose a mask that has two or more layers of washable, breathable fabric; and 70.57% (7272/10,304) wore the masks correctly. Gender, age, occupation, and education level had significant effects on behavior, whereas marital status and the infection status of family members were not significantly related to mask-wearing behavior. In addition, WeChat public accounts (9227/10,304, 89.55%) were the most prominent source of obtaining health information for Chinese netizens after the outbreak of COVID-19.
This study elucidated that Chinese netizens' protective mask behavior is far lower than their mask-related knowledge. Improved information channels and adequate information on wearing masks are necessary to improve the public's protective mask behavior, particularly among men, the elderly, and people with less education.
新型冠状病毒病 COVID-19 很可能在密切接触的环境中在人与人之间传播。中国疾病预防控制中心发布了一份关于 COVID-19 的手册，向公众介绍了健康信息，特别是关于正确佩戴口罩和采取预防措施以避免 COVID-19 感染的信息。
本研究旨在评估中国公众对口罩相关知识的了解程度、口罩使用行为以及获取口罩和 COVID-19 相关信息的主要信息渠道。
主要使用丁香医生微信公众号进行了一项基于互联网的调查。收集并分析了有关口罩知识和行为的数据。除了描述性统计外，还使用逻辑回归分析了对保护口罩行为有显著影响的风险因素。
共收集了 10304 名调查参与者的数据。超过一半的受访者年龄在 30 岁以下，近四分之三是女性。超过 80%的参与者拥有学士或更高学位，最大比例的受访者（n=4204，40.80%）是商业/服务业工作者。超过一半的研究参与者已婚（n=5302，51.46%）。研究结果表明，67.49%（6954/10304）的参与者采取了保护口罩的行为；97.93%（10091/10304）认为戴口罩是预防 COVID-19 的有效措施；96.85%（9979/10304）选择了具有两层或更多层可水洗透气织物的口罩；70.57%（7272/10304）正确佩戴了口罩。性别、年龄、职业和教育水平对行为有显著影响，而婚姻状况和家庭成员的感染状况与戴口罩行为无显著关系。此外，微信公众号（9227/10304，89.55%）是中国网民在 COVID-19 爆发后获取健康信息的最主要来源。
本研究表明，中国网民的防护口罩行为远低于他们的口罩相关知识。需要改进信息渠道并提供充分的口罩佩戴信息，以提高公众的防护口罩行为，特别是在男性、老年人和受教育程度较低的人群中。
