Impact of community masking on COVID-19: A cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh

TLDR

Mask compliance is often overestimated, even in places where wearing masks is mandatory. The study seeks to identify strategies to increase mask‑wearing among the general population. A large cluster‑randomized trial in Bangladesh distributed free colored masks and marketing‑inspired promotional activities to hundreds of thousands of mostly male participants over two months. The intervention raised mask‑wearing rates from 13.3 % to 42.3 % and reduced COVID‑like illness, especially among high‑risk individuals. Abaluck et al.

Abstract

Persuading people to mask Even in places where it is obligatory, people tend to optimistically overstate their compliance for mask wearing. How then can we persuade more of the population at large to act for the greater good? Abaluck et al . undertook a large, cluster-randomized trial in Bangladesh involving hundreds of thousands of people (although mostly men) over a 2-month period. Colored masks of various construction were handed out free of charge, accompanied by a range of mask-wearing promotional activities inspired by marketing research. Using a grassroots network of volunteers to help conduct the study and gather data, the authors discovered that mask wearing averaged 13.3% in villages where no interventions took place but increased to 42.3% in villages where in-person interventions were introduced. Villages where in-person reinforcement of mask wearing occurred also showed a reduction in reporting COVID-like illness, particularly in high-risk individuals. —CA