California Health Interview Survey data show majority of California adults less likely to wear masks

California Health Interview Survey data show majority of California adults less likely to wear masks

The number of California adults who said they “always” wore a mask during the pandemic dropped significantly between February and July, according to the latest CHIS COVID-19 Preliminary Estimates

Media Contact:
UCLA CHPR Communications Team

Although the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the nation, only 30% of California adults said in July that they “always” wore a mask when they left their homes, according to a new UCLA survey. This is a significant decrease from the 54% who “always” wore a face covering in February and March.

And most California adults (51%) said they “sometimes” or “never” use a mask, compared to 48% who said they “always” or “usually” do.

These are among the latest findings on the 2022 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) Preliminary COVID-19 Dashboard, published by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

“Our focus is to constantly shed light on the impacts the pandemic has had on people across the state,” said Todd Hughes, CHIS director. “Our most recent findings show that risk reduction behaviors dramatically decreased among the state’s population, despite a very active period of the pandemic this summer.”

The dashboard uses responses collected in July from 2,992 adults and builds on previous months of data. Beyond risk reduction behaviors among California adults, the dashboard also includes insights about many topics, such as the pandemic’s personal and financial impacts, which outlets Californians use to gather their COVID-19 news and information, and perspectives on receiving a COVID-19 booster shot. 

The survey also highlights how Californians’ sources of news and information about COVID-19 play a role in their response to the pandemic. Thirty-five percent of California adults got their news and information from television, while 19% got news and information from social media. 

Other highlights: 

COVID-19 Booster Shots  

• 52% of adults in California said they have already received a booster. • 31% of adults in California said they are “very likely” to receive a booster. 

Risk Reduction Behaviors

• 21% of adults in California never wore a face covering when leaving their home in the past week.

• 38% of California adults 65 and older always wore a face covering when they left home in the past week, while 27% of California adults ages 18-64 always wore a face covering when leaving home.

• 30% of California adults with a health risk factor (including asthma, diabetes, or high blood pressure) always wore a face covering when they left home in the past week, while 17% of California adults with a health risk factor never wore a face covering when they left home in the past week.
 
Personal Impacts of the Pandemic

• 18% of California adults continued to work entirely in person because it is required by the employer, and the same percentage worked entirely from home.

View the 2022 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) Preliminary COVID-19 Dashboard


About the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. UCLA CHPR is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health​.