ArticlePloS one2021
Surveillance for face mask compliance, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, October-December, 2020.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Knowledge, attitude, and self-medication practices among healthcare students from the metropolitan City of South India.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Face mask use in the city of Chennai, India: Results from three serial cross-sectional surveys, 2021.PloS one · 2024Article
- Methods to Evaluate COVID-19 Preventive Hygiene Programs: Observed Mask Wearing, Handwashing, and Physical Distancing Behaviors in Public Indoor Spaces in Democratic Republic of the Congo.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2022Observational
- Elucidating the role of environmental management of forests, air quality, solid waste and wastewater on the dissemination of SARS-CoV-2.Hygiene and environmental health advances · 2022Review
- Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice towards face mask use among residents of Greater Chennai Corporation, India, March 2021.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
14 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeGovernment of Tamil Nadu, India, mandated the face mask wearing in public places as one of the mitigation measures of COVID-19. We established a surveillance system for monitoring the face mask usage. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of the population who wear face masks appropriately (covering nose, mouth, and chin) in the slums and non-slums of Chennai at different time points.
methodsWe conducted cross-sectional surveys among the residents of Chennai at two-time points of October and December 2020. The sample size for outdoor mask compliance for the first and second rounds of the survey was 1800 and 1600, respectively, for each of the two subgroups-slums and non-slums. In the second round, we included 640 individuals each in the slums and non-slums indoor public places and 1650 individuals in eleven shopping malls. We calculated the proportions and 95% confidence interval (95%CI) for the mask compliance outdoors and indoors by age, gender, region, and setting (slum and non-slum).
resultsWe observed 3600 and 3200 individuals in the first and second surveys, respectively, for outdoor mask compliance. In both rounds, the prevalence of appropriate mask use outdoors was significantly lower in the slums (28%-29%) than non-slum areas (36%-35%) of Chennai (p<0.01). Outdoor mask compliance was similar within slum and non-slum subgroups across the two surveys. Lack of mask use was higher in the non-slums in the second round (50%) than in the first round of the survey (43%) (p<0.05). In the indoor settings in the 2nd survey, 10%-11% among 1280 individuals wore masks appropriately. Of the 1650 observed in the malls, 947 (57%) wore masks appropriately.
conclusionNearly one-third of residents of Chennai, India, correctly wore masks in public places. We recommend periodic surveys, enforcement of mask compliance in public places, and mass media campaigns to promote appropriate mask use.
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