{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,13]],"date-time":"2026-03-13T17:31:23Z","timestamp":1773423083160,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":31,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,19]],"date-time":"2020-11-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1605744000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"NIL","award":["NIL"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIL"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Objectives<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>The study aimed to ascertain the perception of mothers on masking in children as a preventive strategy for COVID-19.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Methodology<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>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.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>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\u2019s readiness to pull it off (29.3%). A significantly higher proportion of the children whose mothers were 35 years and above, 64.2% would <jats:italic>wear face<\/jats:italic> masks when compared with 31.7% of those whose mothers were &lt; 30 years of age (\u03c7<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup> = 28.632, p&lt;0.001). Similarly, a significantly higher proportion (51.0%) of the children who were more than one year of age would wear a face mask when compared with 20.5% of those aged eight days to one year (\u03c7<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup> = 19.441, p&lt;0.001). The children whose mothers were &lt;30 years were about four times less likely to wear a face mask when compared with those whose mothers were aged 35 years and above. (AOR = 0.273; 95%CI: 0.155\u20130.478). The children whose fathers have attained tertiary education were about twice less likely to wear face masks when compared with those whose fathers have attained secondary education and less. (AOR = 0.554; 95%CI: 0.334\u20130.919). Mothers\u2019 perception of COVID-19 had no significant influence on children\u2019s use of face mask (\u03c7<jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup> = 2.337, p = 0.127)<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec005\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Maternal perception of masking in children as an appropriate strategy for preventing COVID-19 is adjudged low in this study. Right perception is significantly enhanced by maternal educational status, employment and marital status.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0242650","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,19]],"date-time":"2020-11-19T21:05:02Z","timestamp":1605819902000},"page":"e0242650","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":8,"title":["Maternal perception of masking in children as a preventive strategy for COVID-19 in Nigeria: A multicentre study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ann E.","family":"Aronu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2281-7735","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Josephat M.","family":"Chinawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Obinna C.","family":"Nduagubam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Edmund N.","family":"Ossai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Awoere T.","family":"Chinawa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wilson C.","family":"Igwe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,11,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0242650.ref001","unstructured":"South Africa Coronavirus: 650,749 Cases and 15,499 Deaths\u2026 https:\/\/www.worldometers.info\/coronavirus\/country\/south-africa. 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