Preprint

Individual’s daily behaviour and intergenerational mixing in different social contexts of Kenya

Del Fava, E., Adema, I., Kiti, M. C., Poletti, P., Merler, S., Nokes, D. J., Manfredi, P., Melegaro, A.

medRxiv preprints
28 pages.
medRxiv
originally posted on: 12 March 2021 (2021), unpublished

DOI:10.1101/2021.03.10.21253281

Open Access

Reproducible

Abstract

Which are the characteristics of contact patterns in diverse social contexts in sub-Saharan Africa, and which types of individuals and daily behaviours may play a pivotal role in infection transmission to the most vulnerable, such as older adults? We address these questions using novel survey data on social contacts and time use from a sample of 1407 individuals from rural, urban, and slum settings in Kenya. In the rural setting, we observed the highest number of daily social contacts (11.56, SD = 0.23) and the highest share of intergenerational mixing with older adults (7.5% vs. around 4% in the urban settings). Intergenerational mixing with older adults was mainly reported by individuals spending their day mostly in the general community (around 8%) or at home (5.1%), rather than at work (1.5%) or at school (3.6%). These results are essential to define effective interventions to control infection transmission in the African context.