Department of Community Medicine, Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.
IIUM Health, Safety and Environment (IHSEN), Kulliyyah of Medicine, International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan, Pahang, Malaysia.
PLoS One. 2024 Aug 27;19(8):e0303031. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0303031. eCollection 2024.
Since the emergence of COVID-19, the Malaysian government has made wearing a face mask in public mandatory since August 1, 2020, as an effort by the government to control the transmission of COVID-19. However, Malaysians' willingness to wear face masks in public is unknown.
Thus, this study aimed to evaluate their perception of face mask wearing during COVID-19 and its contributing factors.
A total of 1024 respondents, aged ≥ 18 years, participated in this online cross-sectional survey from October 2021 to December 2021. The Face Mask Perception Scale (FMPS) was used to measure their perceptions.
Most of the respondents perceived wearing a face mask as uncomfortable. Our findings also revealed statistically significant differences and a small effect (f2 = 0.04) in which respondents who were concerned about being infected by the virus perceived face mask wearing appearance positively (B = - 0.09 units of log-transformed, 95% CI = - 0.15, - 0.04), whereas married respondents perceived it negatively (B = 0.07 units of log-transformed, 95% CI = 0.03, 0.09). There were no statistically significant differences in other domains of FMPS.
In conclusion, discomfort was a major complaint. Marital status and fear of COVID-19 infection affected their perceptions. The public health implications of these findings highlight the importance of addressing discomfort and societal perceptions, particularly those influenced by factors such as marital status and COVID-19 experience, to promote widespread acceptance and consistent usage of face masks, which is crucial in mitigating the spread of COVID-19.
自 2020 年 8 月 1 日起，马来西亚政府颁布在公共场所强制佩戴口罩的规定，以控制 COVID-19 的传播。然而，公众对佩戴口罩的意愿程度尚不清楚。
本研究旨在评估公众对 COVID-19 期间佩戴口罩的认知及其影响因素。
2021 年 10 月至 12 月期间，共 1024 名年龄≥18 岁的受访者参与了这项在线横断面调查。采用口罩认知量表（FMPS）评估受访者的认知。
大多数受访者认为佩戴口罩不舒服。研究结果还显示，受访者对感染病毒的担忧与对佩戴口罩的外观认知呈正相关（B = -0.09 个对数转换单位，95%置信区间为 -0.15，-0.04），且存在统计学差异和小效应（f2 = 0.04），而已婚受访者的认知则呈负相关（B = 0.07 个对数转换单位，95%置信区间为 0.03，0.09）。FMPS 的其他领域没有统计学差异。
综上所述，佩戴口罩的不适感是一个主要的抱怨。婚姻状况和对 COVID-19 感染的恐惧影响了他们的认知。这些发现对公共卫生的影响突显了解决佩戴口罩不适感和社会认知的重要性，特别是那些受婚姻状况和 COVID-19 经历等因素影响的认知，以促进广泛接受和一致使用口罩，这对减缓 COVID-19 的传播至关重要。
