The relationship among mask-wearing, fatalism, and religiosity in a Muslim population: Implications for health education

Understanding the relationship between religiosity and health behaviors helps us to tailor messages based on cultural beliefs. We conducted an online survey to find any relationship between fatalistic beliefs, religiosity, and mask-wearing in an Islamic context. The participants consisted of 503 subjects from the adult population of Kerman Province located in the Southeast of Iran. The measurement tool consisted of four sections; (A) demographic characteristics, (B) three items related to mask-wearing, (C) The God Locus of Health Control (G LHC) scale consisting of six items measuring fatalistic beliefs, (D) The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL) consisting of five items measuring religiosity. The mean age of the participants was 36.5 ± 10.9 years, and females consisted 60% (n=302) of the sample. More than one-fifth (n=109) reported a history of COVID-19 infection. Approximately one-third of respondents (n=163) reported full mask adherence. Logistic regression model showed that there was no significant relationship between mask adherence and religiosity (odds ratio: 1.03; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.99-1.08) and fatalistic beliefs (OR:1.01; 95% CI: 0.98-1.04 ).We found no association of fatalism and religiosity with the mask-wearing during COVID-19 in the Iranian Muslim population. So we can conclude that religious beliefs may have no place in cultural tailoring of health messages for promoting mask adherence.