Table 4.
Overview of behavioural measures against COVID-19 transmission in the reviewed articles, categorized by the OCEBM Levels of Evidence (See Appendix 2 for details)
| Category | Primary preventive measure | Number of referenced articles per OCEBM categorization level | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 1b | 1c | 2a | 2b | 2c | 3a | 3b | 4 | 5 | Others | Total | ||
| Personal practices | Engage in regular handwashing | 4 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 17 | 0 | 34 |
| Wear face mask | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 18 | 1 | 31 | |
| Avoid touching the face | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 0 | 13 | |
| Cover mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 | 0 | 17 | |
| Bring personal utensils for when dining out | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 10 | |
| Close toilet cover when flushing | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 | ||
| Household practices | Disinfect household surfaces | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 13 |
| Avoid sharing utensils | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 9 | |
| Community practices | Avoid crowds and mass gatherings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 23 |
| Avoid travel | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 9 | ||
| Total | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 116 | 1 | 167* | |
OCEBM, Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine.
*Some of the 104 publications are referenced against more than 1 of the 10 primary preventive measures.