The impact of public-initiated COVID-19 risk communication on individual NPI practices

Background: Non-Pharmaceutical Interventions (NPI) are the most widely recognized public health measures practiced globally to prevent the spread of Covid-19 transmission. The effectiveness of NPIs is dependent on the type, a combination of applied interventions, and the level of compliance of the NPIs. The expected outcome of behavioral practices varies relative to the behavioral intervention duration.ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the trend of community compliance to NPIs and with its level of variation with the place of residence and sociodemographic characteristics of people.MethodsA weekly non-participatory field survey on an individual’s NPI practice was observed from October 2020 to July 2021, for a total of 39 weeks. The survey covered all the regions; 14 regional and capital cities. Data collection for the 3 NPI behaviors (mask use, hand hygiene, and physical distance was and managed weekly at eight public service locations using the Open Data Kit (ODK) tool. Results: More than 180,000 individuals were observed for their NPI practice; on average 5,000 observations in a week. About 43% of the observation was made from Addis Ababa, 56% were male participants and the middle age group (18-50 years) accounts for 75%. The overall level of NPI compliance had a peak around the 26th– 30th weeks then decline the rest of the weeks. Respiratory hygiene had the highest compliance whereas hand hygiene had the least 41% and 4%, respectively. There was a significant difference between capital city and regional city residents by their level of NPI compliance. Females comply more than males, and individuals had increased NPI compliance while at the bank service and workplaces compared to while in the transport services at p<0.001.Conclusion: The overall community compliance with NPI practice showed a declining trend in Ethiopia but increased compliance was also observed following the implementation of government-initiated public measures. Therefore, public-initiated risk communication and public advocacy programs for the prevention of Covid-19 should be strengthened.