A longitudinal study of COVID-19 preventive behavior fatigue in Hong Kong: a city with previous pandemic experience

Journal article

BACKGROUND: In addition to high vaccination levels, COVID-19 control requires uptake and continued adherence to personal hygiene and social distancing behaviors. It is unclear whether residents of a city with successive experience in worldwide pandemics such as SARS, would quickly adopt and maintain preventive behaviors. METHODS: A population-based, longitudinal telephone survey was conducted between in first local wave of the COVID-19 pandemic (April 2020) and third local wave (December 2020) (n = 403). The study examined factors associated with personal hygiene and social distancing behavior fatigue, as measured by reduced adherence. RESULTS: Over 9 months, face mask use increased (96.5-100%, p < 0.001). Although habitual hand hygiene remained unchanged (92.0%), blue collar workers and non-working individuals showed higher risk of hand hygiene fatigue. There was a decline (p < 0.05) in avoidance of social gatherings (81.1 to 70.7%), avoidance of public places (52.9-27.5%) and avoidance of international travel (81.9-77.4%) even with rising caseloads. Lowered perception of COVID-19 disease severity was associated with decreased avoidance of social gatherings and public places while lower education was associated with decline in avoidance of social gatherings. CONCLUSION: Even in regions with past pandemic experience, maintaining social distancing behaviors during a protracted pandemic remains a major public health challenge.

Authors: Kim, JH; Kwok, KO; Huang, Z; Poon, PK-M; Hung, KKC

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Journal: BMC Public Health
• Volume: 23
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 618-618
• Article number: 618
• Publication date: 2023-03-31
• DOI: 10.1186/s12889-023-15257-y
• EISSN: 1471-2458
• ISSN: 1471-2458
• Language: English
• Keywords: Demography; Environmental health; Epidemiology; Gerontology; Personal hygiene; Nursing; Family medicine; Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Biostatistics; Medicine; Infectious disease (medical specialty); Longitudinal study; Population; Public health; Social distance; Disease; Hygiene; Pandemic