Barriers and facilitators to the uptake of personal protective behaviours in public settings: rapid evidence summary

This rapid review was conducted as part of the Evidence Service’s collaboration with Heath and Care Research Wales

Next update: Update not planned

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Introduction

Personal protective behaviours such as wearing face coverings, social distancing, hand hygiene, respiratory etiquette and ensuring effective ventilation are key to help limit the spread of COVID-19.

This review looks at what makes it more or less likely for people to adopt current advice to protect themselves, particularly in crowded settings by:

• Ensuring flow of air in enclosed spaces
• Wearing masks
• Keeping social distance
• Using available hand sanitiser
• Sneezing or coughing into elbow

Main points

How up to date is this evidence?

We conducted this rapid evidence summary in 2021, most of the evidence identified included evidence relating to earlier pandemics that occurred between 2004 and 2011.

What we found

The research we studied shows that the people more likely to follow this advice are:

• Older
• Female
• More educated
• Non-white
• Better paid
• Trust more in government
• Feel COVID-19 is more of a risk
• Get their information from TV, radio and newspapers
• Feel more vulnerable
• Have a greater belief that these measures will protect them
• Are more prone to worry

The people less likely to follow the advice are those who use social media for their health advice and/or believe in conspiracy theories

The reasons people don’t socially distance or wear masks are:

• Negative effect of doing so
• Fear of disapproval of others
• Lack of knowledge or understanding of consequences
• Lack of means
• Beliefs about how disease is passed on
• Their own sense of vulnerability
• Feeling, or thinking they will feel, uncomfortable or embarrassed

There is no indication that being required to take these actions by law makes any difference.

What this means

The review identified specific groups who are more or less likely to follow advice to protect themselves and this can be used to tailor guidance and advice.

We cannot assume that these findings will be relevant going forward as the evidence reviewed is limited and relates to other pandemics or the first wave of COVID-19. It is generally acknowledged that people are less likely to take some of these actions to protect themselves as time goes on.

More work is needed on what will encourage people to take protective actions over the duration of the pandemic.

Technical information

What is a rapid evidence summary?

An interim evidence briefing to inform further work and provide early access to key findings. The report is based on a restricted search of key resources and the assessment of abstracts and limited full text data. Priority is given to studies representing robust evidence synthesis. No quality appraisal or evidence synthesis are conducted, and findings should be interpreted with caution.