Cross-border mobility in the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion: impact of COVID-19 border restrictions on everyday activities and visiting social network members

Front Public Health. 2024 Apr 18:12:1281072. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1281072. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Introduction: Cross-border mobility (CBM) to visit social network members or for everyday activities is an important part of daily life for citizens in border regions, including the Meuse-Rhine Euroregion (EMR: neighboring regions from the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany). We assessed changes in CBM during the COVID-19 pandemic and how participants experienced border restrictions.

Methods: Impact of COVID-19 on the EMR' is a longitudinal study using comparative cross-border data collection. In 2021, a random sample of the EMR-population was invited for participation in online surveys to assess current and pre-pandemic CBM. Changes in CBM, experience of border restrictions, and associated factors were analyzed using multinomial and multivariable logistic regression analysis.

Results: Pre-pandemic, 82% of all 3,543 participants reported any CBM: 31% for social contacts and 79% for everyday activities. Among these, 26% decreased social CBM and 35% decreased CBM for everyday activities by autumn 2021. Negative experience of border restrictions was reported by 45% of participants with pre-pandemic CBM, and was higher (p < 0.05) in Dutch participants (compared to Belgian; aOR= 1.4), cross-border [work] commuters (aOR= 2.2), participants with cross-border social networks of friends, family or acquaintances (aOR= 1.3), and those finding the measures 'limit group size' (aOR= 1.5) and 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 2.0) difficult to adhere to and finding 'minimalize travel' (aOR= 1.6) useless.

Discussion: CBM for social contacts and everyday activities was substantial in EMR-citizens, but decreased during the pandemic. Border restrictions were valued as negative by a considerable portion of EMR-citizens, especially when having family or friends across the border. When designing future pandemic control strategies, policy makers should account for the negative impact of CBM restrictions on their citizens.

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; border regions; cross-border mobility; logistic models; social health; social networks; surveys and questionnaires; travel restrictions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Belgium
  • COVID-19* / epidemiology
  • Europe
  • Female
  • Germany / epidemiology
  • Humans
  • Longitudinal Studies
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Netherlands
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Social Networking
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Travel / statistics & numerical data

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This project was granted by the Interreg V-A EMR program (NR. EMR166). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.