Association between personal protective equipment and SARS-CoV-2 infection risk in emergency department healthcare workers

Objective: The use of personal protective equipment and hand hygiene are often the most recommended line of defense against coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). The purpose of this study is to determine the magnitude of compliance and associated factors of personal protective equipment (PPE) utilization and hand hygiene practice among healthcare workers in public hospitals of South Wollo Zone, Northeastern Ethiopia.Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 489 healthcare workers in public hospitals of South Wollo Zone, Northeastern Ethiopia from June 15 to July 30, 2021. Proportional sample size allocation to each selected hospital followed by simple random sampling techniques were used to select the study participants using human resource records from each hospital. A pre-tested and structured self-administered questionnaire with WHO's standardized hand hygiene and PPE utilization observational checklist were used to collect data. Bivariate and multivariable analyses with 95% CI and p-value < 0.05 were employed to identify the associated factors of personal protective equipment utilization.Results: About 32 and 22.3% of healthcare workers were compliant with personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene practice, respectively. Feedback for safety (AOR = 2.05; 95% CI: 1.26–3.35), training on COVID-19 prevention (AOR = 3.43; 95% CI: 2.01–5.86), and perception to infection risk (AOR = 1.98; 95% CI: 1.18–3.33) were significant factors of good compliance with personal protective equipment utilization.Conclusion: The magnitude of good compliance with personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene was low. Interventions to promote personal protective equipment utilization and hand hygiene should focus on feedback for safety, training on COVID-19 prevention, and perception of infection risk.

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Attitudes and beliefs of Spanish healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic

Science Progress ◽

10.1177/00368504211003775 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 104 (2) ◽

pp. 003685042110037

Author(s):

Borja Nicolás Santana López ◽

Yeray G. Santana-Padilla ◽

Jesús M. González-Martín ◽

Luciano Santana-Cabrera

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Healthcare Professionals ◽

National Level ◽

Descriptive Study ◽

Infection Risk ◽

Professional Commitment ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Attitudes And Beliefs ◽

Online Questionnaire

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals are taking the risk of becoming infected or infecting their families. Spain is the country with the highest number of infected healthcare professionals worldwide. Our aim was to study the attitudes and beliefs of these professionals during the current pandemic. Descriptive study conducted by using an online questionnaire—based on an earlier one—which was sent to healthcare professionals at the national level, during the week March 20-27, 2020. Healthcare professionals returned 971 completed questionnaires. A total of 803 (82.7%) participants thought that they did not have suitable PPEs (Personal Protective Equipment) to protect them from infection with COVID-19. In addition, even 229 (23.58%) agreed to go on working even if they were not. In spite of this, 606 (62.4%) of them were ready to work, even with a higher-than-usual risk of becoming infected at work and getting ill. Remarkably high professional commitment has been observed among Spanish healthcare workers in the current pandemic. They were ready to work even when many of them considered that they did not have suitable PPEs, and were thus taking a higher than usual infection risk. However, they put the health of their relatives before their duties at work.

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Skin problems related to personal protective equipment among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic (online research)

Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology ◽

10.1080/15569527.2021.1902340 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Fatma Etgu ◽

Sevda Onder

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Online Research

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Stress and Associated Factors among Frontline Healthcare Workers in the COVID-19 Epicenter of Da Nang City, Vietnam

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18147378 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (14) ◽

pp. 7378

Author(s):

Nhan Phuc Thanh Nguyen ◽

Duong Dinh Le ◽

Robert Colebunders ◽

Joseph Nelson Siewe Fodjo ◽

Trung Dinh Tran ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Stress Component ◽

Multivariable Analysis ◽

Working Hours ◽

Health Facilities ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Laboratory Workers ◽

Frontline Healthcare Workers ◽

Second Wave

Frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) involved in the COVID-19 response have a higher risk of experiencing psychosocial distress amidst the pandemic. Between July and September 2020, a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic appeared in Vietnam with Da Nang city being the epicenter. During the outbreak, HCWs were quarantined within the health facilities in a bid to limit the spread of COVID-19 to their respective communities. Using the stress component of the 21-item Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21), we assessed the level of stress among HCWs in Da Nang city. Between 30 August and 15 September 2020, 746 frontline HCWs were recruited to fill in an online structured questionnaire. Overall, 44.6% of participants experienced increased stress and 18.9% severe or extremely severe stress. In multivariable analysis, increased stress was associated with longer working hours (OR = 1.012; 95% CI: 1.004–1.019), working in health facilities providing COVID-19 treatment (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.04–2.39), having direct contact with patients or their bio-samples (physicians, nurses and laboratory workers; OR = 1.42, 95% CI: 1.02–1.99), low confidence in the available personal protective equipment (OR = 0.846; 95% CI: 0.744–0.962) and low knowledge on COVID-19 prevention and treatment (OR = 0.853; 95% CI: 0.739–0.986). In conclusion, many frontline HCWs experienced increased stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in Da Nang city. Reducing working time, providing essential personal protective equipment and enhancing the knowledge on COVID-19 will help to reduce this stress. Moreover, extra support is needed for HCWs who are directly exposed to COVID-19 patients.

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Fit Testing Retrofitted Full-Face Snorkel Masks as a Form of Novel Personal Protective Equipment During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness ◽

10.1017/dmp.2021.133 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-16

Author(s):

Stephanie Toigo ◽

Michel Jacques ◽

Tarek Razek ◽

Ewa Rajda ◽

Sidney Omelon ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Health Centre ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Test Results ◽

Passing Rate ◽

Fit Testing ◽

Full Face ◽

Medical Grade

ABSTRACT Objective: Bottlenecks in the personal protective equipment (PPE) supply chain have contributed to shortages of PPE during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in fractures in the functionality of healthcare systems. This study was conducted with the aim of determining the effectiveness of retrofitted commercial snorkel masks as an alternative respirator for healthcare workers during infectious disease outbreaks. Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed, analyzing qualitative and quantitative fit test results of the retrofitted Aria Ocean Reef® full-face snorkeling mask on healthcare workers at the McGill University Health Centre between April-June 2020. Historical fit test results, using medical-grade respirators, for healthcare workers were also analyzed. Results: During the study period, 71 participants volunteered for fit testing, 60.6% of which were nurses. The overall fit test passing rate using the snorkel mask was 83.1%. Of the participants who did not previously pass fit testing with medical-grade respirators, 80% achieved a passing fit test with the snorkel respirator. Conclusions: The results suggest that this novel respirator may be an effective and feasible alternative solution to address PPE shortages, while still providing healthcare workers with ample protection. Additional robust testing will be required to ensure that respirator fit is maintained, after numerous rounds of disinfection.

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Acoustic voice characteristics with and without wearing a facemask

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-85130-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Duy Duong Nguyen ◽

Patricia McCabe ◽

Donna Thomas ◽

Alison Purcell ◽

Maree Doble ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Mask Condition ◽

Connected Speech ◽

Significant Attenuation ◽

Cepstral Peak Prominence ◽

Vocal Intensity ◽

Significant Change ◽

The Voice

AbstractFacemasks are essential for healthcare workers but characteristics of the voice whilst wearing this personal protective equipment are not well understood. In the present study, we compared acoustic voice measures in recordings of sixteen adults producing standardised vocal tasks with and without wearing either a surgical mask or a KN95 mask. Data were analysed for mean spectral levels at 0–1 kHz and 1–8 kHz regions, an energy ratio between 0–1 and 1–8 kHz (LH1000), harmonics-to-noise ratio (HNR), smoothed cepstral peak prominence (CPPS), and vocal intensity. In connected speech there was significant attenuation of mean spectral level at 1–8 kHz region and there was no significant change in this measure at 0–1 kHz. Mean spectral levels of vowel did not change significantly in mask-wearing conditions. LH1000 for connected speech significantly increased whilst wearing either a surgical mask or KN95 mask but no significant change in this measure was found for vowel. HNR was higher in the mask-wearing conditions than the no-mask condition. CPPS and vocal intensity did not change in mask-wearing conditions. These findings implied an attenuation effects of wearing these types of masks on the voice spectra with surgical mask showing less impact than the KN95.

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Adherence to personal protective equipment use among healthcare workers caring for confirmed COVID-19 and alleged non-COVID-19 patients

Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control ◽

10.1186/s13756-020-00864-w ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Meike M. Neuwirth ◽

Frauke Mattner ◽

Robin Otchwemah

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Workers ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

University Hospital ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Care Workers

AbstractAdherence observations of health care workers (HCW) revealed deficiencies in the use of recommended personal protective equipment (PPE) among HCW caring in COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 wards during the first period of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in a university hospital in Germany. The adherence to wearing surgical face or FFP2-masks and disinfecting hands prior to donning and after doffing the PPE was significantly higher in COVID-19 wards However, there was no total adherence of 100% in COVID-19 wards.

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Use of Personal Protective Equipment and Operating Room Behaviors in Four Surgical Subspecialties: Personal Protective Equipment and Behaviors in Surgery

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1086/501601 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 20 (02) ◽

pp. 110-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 45

Author(s):

Deniz Akduman ◽

Lynn E. Kim ◽

Rodney L. Parks ◽

Paul B. L'Ecuyer ◽

Sunita Mutha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Operating Room ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Hand Surgery ◽

Occupational Exposures ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Exposure Rate ◽

Total Exposure

AbstractObjective:To evaluate Universal Precautions (UP) compliance in the operating room (OR).Design:Prospective observational cohort. Trained observers recorded information about (1) personal protective equipment used by OR staff; (2) eyewear, glove, or gown breaks; (3) the nature of sharps transfers; (4) risk-taking behaviors of the OR staff; and (5) needlestick injuries and other blood and body-fluid exposures.Setting:Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a 1,000-bed, tertiary-care hospital affiliated with Washington University School of Medicine, St Louis, Missouri.Participants:OR personnel in four surgical specialties (gynecologic, orthopedic, cardiothoracic, and general). Procedures eligible for the study were selected randomly. Hand surgery and procedures requiring no or a very small incision (eg, arthroscopy, laparoscopy) were excluded.Results:A total of 597 healthcare workers' procedures were observed in 76 surgical cases (200 hours). Of the 597 healthcare workers, 32% wore regular glasses, and 24% used no eye protection. Scrub nurses and medical students were more likely than other healthcare workers to wear goggles. Only 28% of healthcare workers double gloved, with orthopedic surgery personnel being the most compliant. Sharps passages were not announced in 91% of the surgical procedures. In 65 cases (86%), sharps were adjusted manually. Three percutaneous and 14 cutaneous exposures occurred, for a total exposure rate of 22%.Conclusion:OR personnel had poor compliance with UP. Although there was significant variation in use of personal protective equipment between groups, the total exposure rate was high (22%), indicating the need for further training and reinforcement of UP to reduce occupational exposures.

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