Who wears the face mask? Preventive measures against COVID-19 in Latin America before vaccination

We analyze the profile of adults who used a mask in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America, between October and November 2020, right before the mass vaccination campaigns.

Based on the Latinobarometer 2020 data, we assess the individual, regional, cultural and political factors of people who used a mask in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in 18 countries of Latin America.

We applied a logistic regression to model the probability of using the mask regularly to avoid being infected with the COVID-19 virus.

Women, older people, those with higher education, those being employed and not working in temporarily jobs, retirees, students, people with a centrist political ideology, and Catholics had a higher chance of using a face mask on a regular basis. People living in Venezuela, Chile, Costa Rica and Brazil were the most likely to use face masks.

These results highlight the need to understand the social forces behind the willingness to adopt non-pharmacological preventive measures to make them more effective in health crisis emergencies.