Adherence to preventive post- pandemic behaviors: the influence of gender and risk perception
Keywords:
COVID-19, vaccination, preventive measures, adherence, gender, risk perceptionAbstract
Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented global impact, radically transforming ways of life, social dynamics, and public health strategies.
Objective: To analyze the adherence to preventive behaviors in the post-pandemic stage, focusing specifically on the influence of gender and risk perception.
Material and Method: A quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed applying an online questionnaire designed specifically for the research.
Results: It was found that women have greater adherence to preventive measures compared to men, which underlines the need to implement gender-differentiated public health approaches to maximize the effectiveness of preventive campaigns. The main motivation to follow these measures was both to avoid one's own infection and to protect others, which reflects a solidarity awareness in a large part of the population.
Conclusions: It was found that women showed greater adherence to preventive measures compared to men, underscoring the need to implement gender-differentiated public health approaches to maximize the effectiveness of preventive campaigns. The main motivation for following these measures was both to avoid becoming infected and to protect others, reflecting a sense of solidarity in a large part of the population.
Downloads
References
1. Kumar A, Singh R, Kaur J, Pandey S, Sharma V, Thakur L, et al. Wuhan to world: the COVID-19 pandemic. Front Cell Infect Microbiol [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];11:596201. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcimb.2021.596201
2. Monto AS. The future of SARS-CoV-2 vaccination: lessons from Influenza. N Engl J Med [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];385(20):1825–7. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2113403
3. Lima-Costa MF, Mambrini JVM, Andrade FB, Peixoto SWV, Macinko J. Distanciamento social, uso de máscaras e higienização das mãos entre participantes do estudo longitudinal da saúde dos idosos brasileiros: iniciativa ELSI-covid-19. Cad Saúde Pública [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];36(3). Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311X00193920
4. Petherick A, Goldszmidt R, Andrade EB, Furst R, Hale T, Pott A, et al. A worldwide assessment of changes in adherence to COVID-19 protective behaviours and hypothesized pandemic fatigue. Nat Hum Behav [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];5(9):1145–50. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01181-x
5. Kwon S, Joshi AD, Lo CH. Association of social distancing and masking with risk of COVID-19 [Internet]. EE. UU.: medRxiv; 2020. [Citado 06/11/2025]. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.11.11.20229500
6. Alam I, Radovanovic A, Incitti R, Kamau AA, Alarawi M, Azhar EI, et al. CovMT: an interactive SARS-CoV-2 mutation tracker, with a focus on critical variants. Lancet Infect Dis [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];21(5):602. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(21)00078-5
7. Leach M, MacGregor H, Scoones I, Wilkinson A. Post-pandemic transformations: How and why COVID-19 requires us to rethink development. World Dev [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];138:105233. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105233
8. Lestari SK, Wardani RK, Arguni E, Fachiroh J, Lazuardi L, Sasongko TH, et al. Patterns of adherence to COVID-19 preventive behaviors and its associated factors: a cross-sectional study in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Asian J Soc Health Behav [Internet]. 2024 [Citado 06/11/2025];7(3):140–7. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.4103/shb.shb_6_24
9. Fujii R, Suzuki K, Niimi J. Public perceptions, individual characteristics, and preventive behaviors for COVID-19 in six countries: a cross-sectional study. Environ Health Prev Med [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];26(1):29. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-021-00952-2
10. Lambert H, Gupte J, Fletcher H. COVID-19 as a global challenge: towards an inclusive and sustainable future. Lancet Planet Health [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];4(8). Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(20)30168-6
11. Indrayathi PA, Januraga PP, Pradnyani PE, Gesesew HA, Ward PR. Perceived social norms as determinants of adherence to public health measures related to COVID-19 in Bali, Indonesia. Front Public Health [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];9:646764. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.646764
12. Smith J, Griffith D, White A, Baker P, Watkins D, Drummond M, et al. COVID-19, equity and men's health. Int J Mens Soc Community Health [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];3(1). Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.22374/ijmsch.v3i1.42
13. Oliffe JL, Rossnagel E, Bottorff JL, Chambers SK, Caperchione C, Rice SM. Community-based men's health promotion programs: eight lessons learnt and their caveats. Health Promot Int [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];35(5):1230–40. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daz101
14. Hoyos-Hernández PA, Concha Valderrama V, Valderrama Orbegozo LJ, Díaz Mutis JD, Tovar Cuevas JR. Adherencia a las conductas preventivas de la COVID-19 en mujeres trans colombianas. Rev Lat Am Psicol [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];53:190–9. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.14349/rlp.2021.v53.21
15. World Health Organization. New report calls for urgent action to avert antimicrobial resistance crisis [Internet]. New York: WHO; 2019. [Citado 06/11/2025]. Disponible en: https://www.who.int/news/item/29-04-2019-new-report-calls-for-urgent-action-to-avert-antimicrobial-resistance-crisis
16. Naser K, Haq Z, Naughton BD. The impact of climate change on health services in low- and middle-income countries: a systematised review and thematic analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health [Internet]. 2024 [Citado 06/11/2025];21(4):434. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21040434
17. Uludağ M, Incitti R, Gao X, Heeney JL, Gojobori T, Alam I. Global surveillance of emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants. Bull World Health Organ [Internet]. 2024 [Citado 06/11/2025];102(6):374–374A. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.2471/BLT.22.289528
18. Scoones I, Stirling A, eds. The politics of uncertainty: challenges of transformation. Abingdon: Routledge; 2020.
19. Bachtold IV. After emergency: social protection responses to Zika virus in Brazil. IDS Working Paper 538. Brighton: IDS; 2020.
20. European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Weekly communicable disease threats report, week 39, 21–27 September 2024. Solna, Sweden: ECDC; 2024.
21. Rahman MT, Sobur MA, Islam MS, Ievy S, Hossain MJ, El Zowalaty ME, et al. Zoonotic diseases: etiology, impact, and control. Microorganisms [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];8(9):1405. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms8091405
22. World Health Organization. COVID-19 dashboard [Internet]. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2024. [Citado 06/11/2025]. Disponible en: https://data.who.int/dashboards/covid19/cases
23. Lubanga AF, Bwanali AN, Kangoma M. Addressing the re-emergence and resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases in Africa: a health equity perspective. Hum Vaccin Immunother [Internet]. 2024 [Citado 06/11/2025];20(1):2375081. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2375081
24. Wright L, Steptoe A, Mak HW, Fancourt D. Do people reduce compliance with COVID-19 guidelines following vaccination? A longitudinal analysis of matched UK adults. J Epidemiol Community Health [Internet]. 2022 [Citado 06/11/2025];76(2):109–15. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2021-217179
25. Si R, Yao Y, Zhang X, Lu Q, Aziz N. Investigating the links between vaccination against COVID-19 and public attitudes toward protective countermeasures: implications for public health. Front Public Health [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];9:702699. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.702699
26. Chu DK, Akl EA, Duda S, Solo K, Yaacoub S, Schünemann HJ, et al. Physical distancing, face masks, and eye protection to prevent person-to-person transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Lancet [Internet]. 2020 [Citado 06/11/2025];395(10242):1973–87. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)31142-9
27. Ruiz MS, Mv M, Latif H, Vyas A. Maintaining adherence to COVID-19 preventive practices and policies pertaining to masking and distancing in the district of Columbia and other US states: systematic observational study. JMIR Public Health Surveill [Internet]. 2023 [Citado 06/11/2025];9. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.2196/40138
28. Kusama T, Takeuchi K, Tamada Y, Kiuchi S, Osaka K, Tabuchi T. Compliance trajectory and patterns of COVID-19 preventive measures, Japan, 2020–2022. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2023 [Citado 06/11/2025];29(9):1747–56. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2909.221754
29. Levitt EE, Gohari MR, Syan SK, Belisario K, Gillard J, DeJesus J, et al. Public health guideline compliance and perceived government effectiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada: findings from a longitudinal cohort study. Lancet Reg Health Am [Internet]. 2022 [Citado 06/11/2025];9:100185. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2022.100185
30. Karako K, Song P, Chen Y, Tang W, Kokudo N. Overview of the characteristics of and responses to the three waves of COVID-19 in Japan during 2020–2021. Biosci Trends [Internet]. 2021 [Citado 06/11/2025];15(1):1–8. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.5582/bst.2021.01019
31. Corea F, Folcarelli L, Napoli A, Del Giudice G, Angelillo I. The impact of COVID-19 vaccination in changing the adherence to preventive measures: evidence from Italy. Vaccines [Internet]. 2022 [Citado 06/11/2025];10(5):777. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10050777
32. Chaudhary FA, Khattak O, Khalid MD. Changes in complacency to adherence to COVID-19 preventive behavioral measures and mental health after COVID-19 vaccination among medical and dental healthcare professionals. Hum Vaccin Immunother [Internet]. 2024 [Citado 06/11/2025];20(1):2369358. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1080/21645515.2024.2369358
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Elsy Labrada González, Karen Aracelly Tobar Almendariz

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
All the content of this magazine is in Open Access, distributed according to the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License that allows non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction without restrictions in any medium, provided that the primary source is duly cited.
