Maternal perception of masking in children as a preventive strategy for COVID-19 in Nigeria: A multicentre study

The use of face masks by children for the prevention of COVID 19 is still controversial, especially with regards to who should wear the face mask and at what age. The study aimed to ascertain the perception of mothers on masking in children as a preventive strategy for COVID-19. This was a cross-sectional study carried out in two health institutions among 387 mothers who presented with their children for the first time in the hospital during the COVID 19 pandemic. A pretested, semi-structured, interviewer-administered questionnaire which was designed by the researchers was used for data collection. Minority (44.7%) of the mothers perceived masking in children as an appropriate measure for the prevention of COVID-19. The frequent reasons given by majority (55.3%) of the mothers for the inappropriateness of face mask in children included perceived difficulty in breathing (38.5%) and the child's readiness to pull it off (29.3%). A significantly higher proportion of the children whose mothers were 35 years and above, 64.2% would wear face masks when compared with 31.7% of those whose mothers were < 30 years of age (χ2 = 28.632, p