ArticleJournal of community health2021
Public Health Messages About Face Masks Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Perceptions of and Impacts on Canadians.
Article in Journal of community health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
27 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Layperson and Healthcare Professional Experiences of Medical Misinformation About Masks on Social Media During the Covid-19 Pandemic: A Thematic Framework Analysis.Health care analysis : HCA : journal of health philosophy and policy · 2026Article
- Platform compliance governance in digital public health communication: effects of emergency health knowledge dissemination on protective behaviors.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Application of an Innovative Methodology to Build Infrastructure for Digital Transformation of Health Systems: Developmental Program Evaluation.JMIR formative research · 2025Article
- Anti-masking Posts on Instagram: Content Analysis During the COVID-19 Pandemic.Safety and health at work · 2025Article
- Are you understanding what I am saying? The critical importance of communication competency in epidemiology.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
- Association of social vulnerability index and masking adherence among children enrolled in COVID-19 community research partnership study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Public perception on face mask wearing during COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia: A cross sectional study.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Evaluating the World Health Organization's health promotion strategies: Sentiments, health beliefs, and the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
- The government of masks in sentinel territories against Covid-19: Dakar and Seine-Saint-Denis.BMC public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Examining the experiences of pediatric mental health care providers during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychology · 2023Article
- The Importance of Fostering and Funding Scientific Research, and its Relevance to Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.Environmental toxicology and chemistry · 2023Article
- Scientific reasoning is associated with rejection of unfounded health beliefs and adherence to evidence-based regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic.Current psychology (New Brunswick, N.J.) · 2023Article
- Management of the COVID crisis in Reunion Island (SW Indian Ocean): representations of COVID-19 and acceptance of public health measures.Health psychology and behavioral medicine · 2023Article
- Public health communication during the COVID-19 pandemic: perspectives of communication specialists, healthcare professionals, and community members in Quebec, Canada.Canadian journal of public health = Revue canadienne de sante publique · 2022Article
- Education and COVID-19 excess mortality.Economics and human biology · 2022Article
- Factors associated with COVID-19 masking behavior: an application of the Health Belief Model.Health education research · 2022Article
- Support for mask use as a COVID-19 public health measure among a large sample of Canadian secondary school students.BMC public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadians faced much ambiguity in the public health messages around face mask use. As public health messaging plays a pivotal role in the provision of directives during a health crisis, this study examines Canadians' opinions on the early messaging they received regarding personal protection, especially around mask use, with the goal of identifying potential improvements to strengthen future health messaging. Nine online focus group interviews with 47 Canadians were conducted. These natural conversations focused on personal protective equipment (PPE) choices, mask-relevant public health information sources, and advice to Canadian authorities to improve public health messaging on mask use. Responses were imported into NVivo for thematic analysis. Four meta-themes of relevance were identified. Despite demonstrating trust in scientific evidence and public health authorities, the inconsistencies in public health messaging fostered confusion, and induced mistrust toward health professionals. Further, several information deficits were identified pertaining to the scientific efficacy, safe use, and disposal of masks. Rooted in loyalty to healthcare workers, these Canadians eschewed using medical grade masks during PPE shortages to ensure a sufficient supply for medical workers. The findings stress that consistency in public health messages should be prioritized, with necessary changes clearly justified and explained. More information should reach the public on the scientific benefits and proper use of masks. Public health recommendations should be evidence-based, simple, transparent, and realistic in the current circumstances to guide Canadians to make more informed personal protection choices in the rapidly evolving pandemic.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.