en عمومى General مقاله اصیل Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;">Background: Despite the mass vaccination of people in countries, preventive health guidelines of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are still one of the most critical factors for pandemic control. The objectives of this study were to assess the overall use of face masks and investigate the diverse kinds of face masks used among pedestrians in northeast Iran.<br> Methods: This cross-sectional study was designed in Torbat Heydariyeh, northeastern Iran, from February 19 to May 13, 2020. A total of 223 848 pedestrians were selected from 25 points of the city, using a multistage sampling method in 10 stages. Descriptive statistics were presented with frequencies and percentages. Chi-square test and Fisher exact test were used to assess the association between two categorical variables.<br> Results: The overall percent of face mask usage was 78.68%. Women used face masks considerably higher than men (88.32% vs. 69.02%, P<0.001). Among the male and female pedestrians who used the mask, 6.27% and 2.04% wore face mask incorrectly, respectively. Surgical masks (73.7%) were the most common face masks worn by pedestrians. Overall, the face mask usage was significantly lower during a.m. (88.34%) compared to p.m. (78.52%) (P<0.001). Also, the face mask usage was significantly higher in the center sections of the city (86.49%) compared to the outskirts (43.67%) (P<0.001).<br> Conclusion: Women use face masks significantly more than men. Using educational programs and establishing laws and regulations to prevent pandemics in cities is considered as a key factor.</div> COVID-19, Pedestrians, Cross-sectional studies, Male, Female 75 85 http://ehemj.com/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-281&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Sarmadi sarmadim1@thums.ac.ir 100319475328460011672 100319475328460011672 Yes Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Mehdi Bakhtiyaridovvombaygi Mahdi.bakhtiyari7597@gmail.com 100319475328460011673 100319475328460011673 No Student Research Committee, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Seyed Mohammad Ahmadi-Soleimani Mostafaahmadi24@gmail.com 100319475328460011674 100319475328460011674 No Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Hossein Ebrahimipour ebrahimipourh1@thums.ac.ir 100319475328460011675 100319475328460011675 No Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Mohammad Reza Rezaiemanesh rezaiemaneshmr1@thums.ac.ir 100319475328460011676 100319475328460011676 No Department of Laboratory Sciences, School of Paramedical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Hadi Alizadeh-Siuki Alizadehh951@mums.ac.ir 100319475328460011677 100319475328460011677 No Department of Public Health, School of Health, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Somaye Barzanouni Barzanounis1@thums.ac.ir 100319475328460011678 100319475328460011678 No Vice Chancellery of Education and Research, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Mahdieh Torkzadeh mahdiehtorkzadeh77@gmail.com 100319475328460011679 100319475328460011679 No Student Research Committee, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Mohammadreza Askari askarim3@thums.ac.ir 100319475328460011680 100319475328460011680 No Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran Sajjad Rahimi sj.rahimi@yahoo.com 100319475328460011681 100319475328460011681 No Department of Environmental Health Engineering, School of Health, Torbat Heydariyeh University of Medical Sciences, Torbat Heydariyeh, Iran