Change and Continuity in Preventive Practices Across the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Rural and Urban Latinx Immigrant Worker Families

(1). BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has put essential workers at high risk for contracting the disease. This study documents situational compliance with public health recommendations such as masking and social distancing among rural and urban Latinx families, with the goal of understanding change over time in COVID-19 risk reduction behaviors. (2). METHODS: Respondents for 67 rural families and 44 urban families responded to repeated telephone surveys at three time points in the first year of the pandemic, providing data on use of masks and social distancing by themselves and family members while interacting with others at home, work, and in the community. Cumulative logistic regression models were employed to compare changes in risk behaviors between rural and urban groups over time. (3). RESULTS: While group descriptive results indicated behaviors that posed low risk at each time point, regression models revealed greater change between time points for rural than urban residents. Rural residents also had gendered patterns. (4). CONCLUSIONS: Patterns of change appear to reflect structural issues such as seasonal labor demand and gender roles more than pandemic fatigue or changing public health recommendations. The findings suggest that structural factors play a role in individuals complying with public health prevention measures for COVID-19.