COVID-19 Symptom Reporting Compliance Rates Among University Performing Arts Majors

Abstract

AIMS: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively affected the performing arts sector by temporarily closing venues. As venues reopened, COVID-19 symptom self-reporting and monitoring were one tool to identify potentially symptomatic cast and crew, who would then undergo contact tracing, testing, or isolation to prevent spreading COVID-19. However, the compliance rates for submitting a COVID-19 self-monitoring checklist among undergraduate performing art majors remain unknown. METHODS: This retrospective medical chart review investigated 282 cast and crew (68 males and 214 females) regarding their daily COVID-19 symptom report documents across the genres of dance, musical theater, and vocal performance throughout the production runs of 11 performances at a midwestern United States university’s integrated performing arts campus. Compliance regarding the completion of the COVID-19 symptom checklist was compared between gender identity, performance semester, and performance type throughout the 2020–2021 academic year. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference on masking compliance when comparing males (mean 73.6%) and females (73.8%). The completion of the symptom self-reporting during the fall 2020 semester was statistically significantly higher than in the spring 2021 semester (F = 6.065, t = 4.485, df = 229.661, p = 0.014, d = 0.52). Additionally, those participating in musical theater were more compliant than those in vocal performance (F(2,280) = 4.410, p = 0.013, d = 0.031). There was no statistically significant difference between dance and musical theater or vocal performance and dance genres regarding overall compliance. CONCLUSIONS: These findings can help understand the groups of performing artists who would comply with the public health measure of completing a daily symptom checklist for COVID-19 or similar communicable diseases.