Journal Article

Longitudinal assessment of the impact of COVID-19 infection on mask-wearing behaviors

Lomeli, Angel, Longhurst, Christopher A., Jacobs, Marni B., Goldhaber, Nicole H., Laurent, Louise C., Valentine, Holly D., Knight, Rob, Pham, Danielle

2024

Overview

Background Wearing a mask was a crucial component in slowing the COVID-19 pandemic. However, little is known about the intersectionality between mask usage, risk perception, and infection. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether risk perceptions and masking behaviors are associated with contracting SARS-CoV-2 and how contracting SARS-CoV-2 subsequently changes masking behaviors in specific situations. Methods This cohort study utilized survey data from the UC San Diego ZAP COVID-19 study ( n  = 1,230) to evaluate the risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2 in relation to baseline risk perceptions and masking behaviors in various situations and how contracting SARS-CoV-2 affects subsequent masking behavior. Results We found that more consistent self-reported mask use in indoor public spaces ( p  = 0.03) and in other people’s houses ( p  = 0.002) was associated with remaining free of SARS-CoV-2 infection. We also found that contracting SARS-CoV-2 was associated with a subsequent increase in mask use in other people’s houses ( p  = 0.01). Conclusions Our findings suggest that consistent mask use is correlated with decreased infection and that contracting SARS-CoV-2 may modify mask use behaviors in high-risk situations. These findings may help inform future public health messaging for infectious disease prevention. Trial registration This study has not been previously registered as it is an observational study. There was no pre-registration of the analytic plan for the present study.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adult / Aerosols / Aged / Analysis / Biostatistics / California - epidemiology / Cohort Studies / COVID-19 / COVID-19 - epidemiology / COVID-19 - prevention & control / COVID-19 - psychology / COVID-19 vaccines / Disease control / Disease transmission / Dwellings / Electronic health records / Employees / Environmental Health / Epidemics / Epidemiology / Ethnicity / Female / Health aspects / Health behavior / Housing / Humans / Immunization / Infection / Infection status / Infections / Infectious diseases / Influence / Longitudinal Studies / Male / Mask use / Masking / Masks / Masks - statistics & numerical data / Medical research / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Medicine, Experimental / Middle Aged / Observational studies / Pandemics / Perceptions / Prevention / Public Health / Residential areas / Risk perception / SARS-CoV-2 / Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 / Students / Surveys and Questionnaires / United States / University-affiliated individuals / Vaccine / Viral diseases / Young Adult