Adherence of Facemask During COVID Pandemic Among South Asian CountriesA Web-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Objective: To investigate the facemask adherence rate among South Asian countries and to examine association between face mask adherence and socio-demographic factors. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: South Asian countries (Pakistan, India and Bangladesh), from Jul to Sep 2020. Methodology: A total of 1579 individuals of age more than 14 years, of either gender, who had internet accessibility and understood English, participated in the study. The study was designed on Google forms and distributed through social media networks. The three South-Asian countries, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh, were targeted. Data regarding socio-demographics and type of facemask adherence was collected. Results: The mean age of the participants was 31.32 ± 9.83 years. Of all the participants, there were 826 (46.3%) males, and 959 (53.7%) were females. Univariate analysis showed that females, Muslims, education level till graduate, employed, monthly income <$300, and Bangladeshis participants had higher odds of face mask adherence (p<0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that females, Muslims, urban residents, secondary level education, employed, family monthly income $100-$300, and Bangladeshis were strongly associated with face mask adherence (p<0.05). Conclusion: Among the three countries, Bangladeshis had higher facemask adherence than Pakistan and India. The sociodemographic factors associated with facemask usage were gender, religion, locality, education, employment status, family monthly income, and nationality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]