ArticleRural and remote health2021
US trends in mask wearing during the COVID-19 pandemic depend on rurality.
Article in Rural and remote health, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Start from the end: Policy exploration to inform effective and consistent interventions applied to COVID-19 in St. Louis.PNAS nexus · 2026Article
- Adaptive behaviour during epidemics: a social risk appraisal approach to modelling dynamics.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- A longitudinal analysis of COVID-19 prevention strategies implemented among US K-12 public schools during the 2021-2022 school year.Annals of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Association of social vulnerability index and masking adherence among children enrolled in COVID-19 community research partnership study.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Eliciting Opinions on Health Messaging During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Qualitative Survey Study.JMIR human factors · 2023Article
- Collective health behavior and face mask utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic in Oklahoma, USA.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Political views and organizational distrust affect rural residents' willingness to share personal data for COVID-19 contact tracing: A cross-sectional survey study.Journal of clinical and translational science · 2023Article
- US veterinarians' perceptions of discussing COVID-19 vaccination with animal owners during routine visits.One health (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2022Article
- Exploring perceived risk for COVID-19 and its role in protective behavior and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy: a qualitative study after the first wave.BMC public health · 2022Article
- Article
- A Scoping Review and Assessment of the Area-Level Composite Measures That Estimate Social Determinants of Health Across the United States.Public health reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)Article
- Community Effectiveness of Masks and Vaccines.Socius : sociological research for a dynamic worldArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
10 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
introductionFace masks are widely recommended as a COVID-19 prevention strategy. State mask mandates have generally reduced the spread of the disease, but decisions to wear a mask depend on many factors. Recent increases in case rates in rural areas following initial outbreaks in more densely populated areas highlight the need to focus on prevention and education. Messaging about disease risk has faced challenges in rural areas in the past. While surges in cases within some communities are likely an impetus for behavior change, rising case rates likely explain only part of mask-wearing decisions. The current study examined the relationship between county-level indicators of rurality and mask wearing in the USA.
methodsNational data from the New York Times' COVID-19 cross-sectional mask survey was used to identify the percentage of a county's residents who reported always/frequently wearing a mask (2-14 July 2020). The New York Times' COVID-19 data repository was used to calculate county-level daily case rates for the 2 weeks preceding the mask survey (15 June - 1 July 2020), and defined county rurality using the Index of Relative Rurality (n=3103 counties). Multivariate linear regression was used to predict mask wearing across levels of rurality. The model was adjusted for daily case rates and other relevant county-level confounders, including county-level indicators of age, race/ethnicity, gender, political partisanship, income inequality, and whether each county was subject to a statewide mask mandate.
resultsLarge clusters of counties with high rurality and low mask wearing were observed in the Midwest, upper Midwest, and mountainous West. Holding daily case rates and other county characteristics constant, the predicted probability of wearing a mask decreased significantly as counties became more rural (β=-0.560; p<0.0001).
conclusionUpticks in COVID-19 cases and deaths in rural areas are expected to continue, and localized outbreaks will likely occur indefinitely. The present findings highlight the need to better understand the mechanisms underlying perceptions of COVID-19 risk in rural areas. Dissemination of scientifically correct and consistent information is critical during national emergencies.
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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.