• Xin Xu, Kimberly Ann Chew, Xiaolin Xu, Zhihua Wu, Xiaohua Xiao, and Qian Yang.
• Department of Dig Data and Health Sciences, School of Public Health, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and the Second Affiliated Hospital, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
• BMJ Open. 2021 Jan 6; 11 (1): e041453.

ObjectivesExamine compliance with personal protective measures in communities for the prevention and control of local transmission of the COVID-19, and explore indicators for such behavioural compliance.DesignCross-sectional design with a self-selecting sample. Data collected in February 2020.SettingCommunity dwellers in China.Participants2956 participants aged 16 and above completed the study and were included in the analysis.Outcome MeasuresNationwide COVID-19 survey. Demographics and self-reported compliance with four personal protective measures-home quarantine, mask-wearing, temperature-taking and hand-sanitising were collected. Outbreak severity and timeliness of personal protection order were obtained from the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention website. Logistic regression models were employed to examine the association between demographic and social indicators and behavioural compliance.ResultsCompliance with home quarantine was only associated with gender (men, OR=0.61 (0.51-0.73), inverse association) but no other indicators. In contrast, men had higher compliance with mask-wearing (OR=1.79 (1.49-2.16)) and temperature-taking (OR=1.27 (1.05-1.53)). Compared with younger adults (≤20 years), the middle-age groups (31-40 and 41-50 years of age) were more compliant with all protective behaviours, except for home quarantine (OR=0.71 (0.54-0.93) and 0.67 (0.46-0.97), respectively).ConclusionMale gender was associated with lower compliance with home quarantine yet higher compliance with mask-wearing and temperature-taking. The middle-age participants (31-50 years) had lower compliance with home quarantine but higher with other measures. These findings may be supported by the economic considerations and the long-inherited Confucian values among Chinese. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, public health authorities should tailor policy implementation to disparities in psychosocial indicators.© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

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