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.