Contexts, beliefs and health behaviour: Are individuals who engage in risky sexual behaviour likely to wear facemasks against COVID-19?


Published: 26 July 2022
Abstract Views: 674
PDF: 278
HTML: 12
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Yemi Adewoyin Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9013-4867
  • Chukwuedozie K. Ajaero Department of Geography, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria; Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
  • Clifford O. Odimegwu Demography and Population Studies Programme, Schools of Public Health and Social Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6273-8807

and availability of sanitation facilities, individual health beliefs and behaviour are critical in combating the sustained prevalence of Covid-19. Behaviour has, however, been shown to be consistent but could be context-dependent based on the individual’s beliefs. To investigate whether or not individuals’ protective behaviour against coronavirus is associated with their behaviour in a previous health context. Facemask usage and engagement in risky sexual behaviour (RSB) were employed as corollaries of Covid-19 protective behaviour and a previous health context respectively. Data on them and other sociodemographic correlates of health behaviour were collected on 522 Nigerians via a web-based survey. The data were analyzed using frequency, Chi Square and Binary Logistics Regression. About 31% of the population wore facemasks in public, 48.1% believed Covid existed and was severe, and 31.6% had engaged in RSB. Individuals who engaged in RSB had lower odds of wearing facemasks in public in both the general population and across the rural-urban divide. The relationship was, however, only statistically significant (OR:0.642, p<0.05) in the adjusted regression model. Other significant determinants of facemask use were gender, place of residence, employment status and beliefs about Covid. The similarity of individual beliefs and behaviours in different health contexts provides an opportunity to model behaviour change communication policies for preventing and combating the spread of coronavirus and other infectious diseases.


World Health Organization. Modes of transmission of virus causing COVID-19: implications for IPC precaution recommendations: scientific brief, 27 March 2020. World Health Organization; 2020.

Makinde OA, Akinyemi JO, Ntoimo LF, Ajaero CK, et al. Risk Assessment for COVID-19 Transmission at Household Level in sub-Saharan Africa – Evidence from DHS. Genus, 2021 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41118-021-00130-w

Jose R, Narendran M, Bindu A, Beevi N, Manju L, Benny PV. Public perception and preparedness for the pandemic COVID 19: A Health Belief Model approach. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health, 2021; 9(2021): 41-46. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cegh.2020.06.009

Banda J, Dube AN, Brumfield S, Amoah AS, Reniers G, Crampin AC, Helleringer S. Knowledge, risk perceptions, and behaviors related to the COVID-19 pandemic in Malawi. Demographic Research, 2021; 44(20): 459480 DOI: https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2021.44.20

Sikakulya FK, Ssebuufu R, Mambo SB, Pius T, Kabanyoro A, Kamahoro E, et al. Use of face masks to limit the spread of the COVID19 among western Ugandans: Knowledge, attitude and practices. PLoS ONE, 2021; 16(3): e0248706 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248706

Molla KA, Abegaz SB. Community knowledge, attitude and practices to SARS-CoV-2 disease 2019 (COVID-19): A cross-sectional study in Woldia town, Northeast Ethiopia. PLoS ONE, 2021;16(4): e0250465. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250465

de Bruin WB, Bennett D. Relationships between Initial COVID-19 Risk Perceptions and Protective Health Behaviors: A National Survey. Am J Prev Med, 2020;59(2):157−167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2020.05.001

Kim S, Kim S. Analysis of the Impact of Health Beliefs and Resource Factors on Preventive Behaviors against the COVID-19 Pandemic. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020; 17, 8666; doi:10.3390/ijerph17228666 DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17228666

Rosenstock IM. Why People Use Health Services. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly. 1966, 44. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/3348967

Becker MH. The Health Belief Model and Personal Health Behavior (Ed). Thorofare, New Jersey: Slack. 1974 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/109019817400200407

Rosenstock IM, Strecher VJ, Becker MH. The Health Belief Model and HIV Risk Behavior Change. In RJ. DiClemente & JL. Peterson (Eds.), Preventing AIDS: Theories and Methods of Behavioral Interventions. New York, NY: Plenum Press. 1994. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1193-3_2

Thiagarajan K. Why is India having a Covid-19 surge? BMJ 2021, 373:n1124. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.n1124

Odimegwu CO, Adewoyin Y, Mutanda N. Media Communication Programmes and Aspects of HIV Risk Behaviour among Sexually Active South African Youths. African Journal of Reproductive Health, 2020; 24(3): 126-134

Ajaero CK, Onuh JC, Amoo E, Adewoyin Y. Contextual Correlates of Risky Sexual Behaviour among Migrant and Non-Migrant Men in Nigeria. Sage Open, April-June, 2020; 1-10 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020919532

Odimegwu C, Somefun O, Chisumpa V. Regional differences in positive sexual behaviour among youth in sub-saharan Africa. Journal of Biosocial Science, 2018; 1-19. doi:10.1017/S002193201800010X DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S002193201800010X

Kurz T, Gardener B, Verplanken B, Abraham C. Habitual behaviors or patterns of practice? Explaining and changing repetitive climate-relevant action. WIREs Climate Change. 2014; 6(1): 113-128 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.327

Webb TL, Sheeran P. Does changing behavioural intentions engender behaviour change? A meta-analysis of the experimental evidence. Psychological Bulletin, 2006, 132: 249-268 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.2.249

Verplanken B, Aarts H. Habit, attitude, and planned behaviour: Is habit an empty construct or an interesting case of goal-directed automacity? European Review of Social Psychology. 1999, 10: 101-134 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14792779943000035

Wood W, Neal DT. A new look at habits and the habit-goal interface. Psychology Review 2007, 114: 843-863. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.114.4.843

Triandis HC. Interpersonal Behavior. Monterey: Brooks/Cole; 1977

Verplanken B. Old and new routes to sustainable behaviour. In L Whitmarsh, S O’Neil, I Lorenzoni eds. Engaging the public with climate change. London: Earthscan; 2010, 17-30

Statista.com. Number of cumulative cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) by day. From https://www.statista.com/statistics/1103185/cumulative-coronavirus-covid19-cases-number-us-byday/. Accessed June 1st, 2021

Adewoyin Y. Maternal Healthcare, Place Differentials and Regional Planning in Africa. In Adewoyin, Y., Adeagbo, A., Ogunkan, D. and Chakwizira, J. (eds). Contemporary Issues in Urban and Regional Planning and Development in Africa: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Aina Thompson Adeboyejo. PP 64-76. Ibadan: Ladoke Akintola University of Technology. 2021

Nudelman G, Peleg S, Shiloh S. The Association Between Healthy Lifestyle Behaviours and Coronavirus Protective Behaviours. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-021-09960-6 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12529-021-09960-6

Mantell JE, Franks J, Lahuerta M, Omollo D, Zerbe A, Hawken M et al. Life in the Balance: Young Female Sex Workers in Kenya Weigh the Risks of COVID‑19 and HIV. AIDS and Behavior (2021) 25:1323–1330 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10461-020-03140-5

Rights

None
Adewoyin, Y., Ajaero, C. K., & Odimegwu, C. O. (2022). Contexts, beliefs and health behaviour: Are individuals who engage in risky sexual behaviour likely to wear facemasks against COVID-19?. Journal of Public Health in Africa, 13(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/jphia.2022.2032

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations