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Cited by 513

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 30 of the 30 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic

Open access
Haischer, Michael H., Beilfuss, Rachel, Hart, Meggie Rose, Opielinski, Lauren, Wrucke, David, Zirgaitis, Gretchen, Uhrich, Toni D., Hunter, Sandra K.·2020·PLOS ONE

Abstract

Masks are an effective tool in combatting the spread of COVID-19, but some people still resist wearing them and mask-wearing behavior has not been experimentally studied in the United States. To understand the demographics of mask wearers and resistors, and the impact of mandates on mask-wearing behavior, we observed shoppers (n = 9935) entering retail stores during periods of June, July, and August 2020. Approximately 41% of the June sample wore a mask. At that time, the odds of an individual wearing a mask increased significantly with age and was also 1.5x greater for females than males. Additionally, the odds of observing a mask on an urban or suburban shopper were ~4x that for rural areas. Mask mandates enacted in late July and August increased mask-wearing compliance to over 90% in all groups, but a small percentage of resistors remained. Thus, gender, age, and location factor into whether shoppers in the United States wear a mask or face covering voluntarily. Additionally, mask mandates are necessary to increase mask wearing among the public to a level required to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

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Crossref · 10.1371/journal.pone.0240785

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Metadata

Authors
Haischer, M. H., Beilfuss, R., Hart, M. R., Opielinski, L., Wrucke, D., Zirgaitis, G., Uhrich, T. D., & Hunter, S. K.
Venue
PLOS ONE
Published
2020-10-15
Volume
15
Issue
10
Pages
e0240785
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W3092832410
Cited by
513
References
30
FWCI
140.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
gold

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1371/journal.pone.0240785
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Haischer, M. H., Beilfuss, R., Hart, M. R., Opielinski, L., Wrucke, D., Zirgaitis, G., Uhrich, T. D., & Hunter, S. K. (2020). Who is wearing a mask? Gender-, age-, and location-related differences during the COVID-19 pandemic. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240785

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Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.