Health behaviours and the adoption of individual protection measures during the new coronavirus pandemic: the ELSI-COVID-19 initiative

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether healthy behaviours determine the adoption of individual protective measures to fight COVID-19. The data were obtained from the ELSI-COVID-19 initiative, a telephone survey conducted among participants in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSI-Brazil), which includes a national sample representative of the population aged 50 years or older. The outcomes evaluated were three protective measures (not having left home in the past week, wearing a mask when leaving home, and sanitizing hands when returning home), and the explanatory variables were health behaviours (smoking, alcohol consumption, consumption of fruits and vegetables, and physical activity). The associations were evaluated by logistic models, considering adjustments for potential confounding factors. A total of 5,827 individuals participated in the analysis; 32.2% did not leave home in the last week, and among those who left home, 97.5% used a face mask, and 97.3% sanitized their hands when they returned home. The practice of physical activity at the recommended levels was associated with a lower chance of not leaving home in the previous week. Ex-smokers were more likely to use a mask, and those who practised physical activity were less likely to adopt this protective measure. Individuals with low-risk alcohol consumption had a higher chance of sanitizing their hands. Actions aimed at increasing the adoption of protective measures to fight the new coronavirus should consider the existence of vulnerable groups, which can be identified by the distribution of other health behaviours in the population.

本研究旨在评估健康行为是否会影响个体采取新型冠状病毒肺炎（COVID-19）防控个体防护措施的行为。研究数据来源于ELSI-COVID-19项目，该项目是针对巴西老龄化纵向研究（Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging, ELSI-Brazil）参与者开展的电话调查，其样本为覆盖全国50岁及以上人群的代表性样本。本研究评估的结局指标包含三项个体防护措施：近一周未外出、外出时佩戴口罩以及返家后洗手；解释变量则为四类健康行为：吸烟、饮酒、蔬果摄入与体育锻炼。本研究采用logistic回归模型分析上述变量间的关联，并对潜在混杂因素进行了校正。本次分析共纳入5827名研究对象：其中32.2%的受访者近一周未外出；在外出的受访者中，97.5%会在外出时佩戴口罩，97.3%会在返家后洗手。达到推荐运动量的体育锻炼行为与近一周未外出的概率降低显著相关。既往吸烟者更有可能佩戴口罩，而坚持规律体育锻炼者则较少采取该防护措施。低风险饮酒人群的洗手概率更高。旨在提升新冠疫情防控个体防护措施依从性的干预举措，应关注脆弱人群的识别与支持，而人群健康行为的分布特征可作为识别此类脆弱人群的重要依据。