A Cross-Sectional Study of Knowledge and Practice with Regard to Personal Protective Equipment in Covid-19 Management among Healthcare Workers at a Tertiary Care Center of Ananthapuram District, Andhra Pradesh

BACKGROUND The healthcare personnel are the first ones to get exposed to corona virus disease (COVID 19) infection while serving the patients in the hospital. Correct knowledge and practice regarding personal protective equipment (PPE) kit usage is the need of the hour which acts as a barrier for infection. The level of knowledge on PPE, method of guidance and the perceived need for PPE by healthcare personnel play an important role in controlling the infections in hospital settings. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted at the Covid Care Center of a Tertiary Care Hospital of Ananthapuramu district among healthcare staff using a pre-structured closed-ended questionnaire regarding socio-demographic details and usage of personal protective equipment. The score obtained was classified as good if the score ranges from 6 to 8 & poor if the score is from 0 to 5. RESULTS 28 out of 64 subjects (43.7 %) had good knowledge & practice regarding PPE kit usage. Majority of them had given correct responses for PPE kit components, wearing masks and disposal of PPE while most of them scored poorly in donning and doffing steps, wearing gloves and foot covers. CONCLUSIONS Most of the study subjects had good knowledge regarding wearing masks, PPE kit components, & method of disposal of PPE. Majority of them did not know the correct steps for donning & doffing of PPE & wearing gloves. Most of the doctors did not even have adequate knowledge on appropriate usage and disposal of PPE. As per the study, neither gender nor job title could determine the level of knowledge & practice of PPE kit. Well planned training sessions for health care workers (HCWs) regarding the steps of donning and doffing of PPE, correct method of disposal of PPE & using right substitutes is important. KEYWORDS PPE Kit, Healthcare, Donning, Doffing

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Knowledge and experience of healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Tema, Ghana

International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health ◽

10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20210506 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 1022

Author(s):

Mercy N. A. Opare-Addo ◽

Josephine Mensah ◽

Janice Osei Donkor ◽

Amos Amoako-Adusei ◽

Angela Opoku-Bona

Keyword(s):

News Media ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Sufficient Knowledge ◽

Level Of Knowledge

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 is a pandemic caused by a novel human coronavirus previously known as 2019-nCov. Healthcare workers are essential in the response to and management of such infectious diseases. Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Tema General Hospital, Ghana. Data was collected from healthcare workers using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was done for all socio-demographic characteristics of respondents. Level of knowledge about coronavirus disease and factors influencing participants’ willingness to work were summarized as frequencies, percentages and charts. Chi-square test was used to test for association between level of knowledge and all independent variables. Results: A total of 157 healthcare workers participated in this study. The news media (135, 85.99%) was the commonest source of information for participants. Almost half of participants (47.8%) had been tested for coronavirus disease, and 91.08% had sufficient knowledge about the disease. Occupation (p=0.047) was significantly associated with participants’ level of knowledge. A total of 46.49% disagreed with adequacy of personal protective equipment provided, with 70.06% admitting they have had to use their own personal protective equipment at work. A sense of duty (20, 31.8%) and motivation (14, 22.2%) positively influenced participants’ ability to work while challenges faced included fear of contracting and transmitting the virus (98.7%) and stigmatization (70.7%). Conclusions: The healthcare workers had sufficient knowledge about coronavirus disease. Insufficient personal protective equipment was evident during the pandemic. Measures must be established to ensure that barriers to work are eliminated while factors that enhance work output are encouraged.

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CURRENT PRACTICES OF PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT IN OPERATION THEATERS: A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY

Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal ◽

10.51253/pafmj.v71i1.4626 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 71 (1) ◽

pp. 83-86

Author(s):

Saira Mahboob ◽

Tariq Mehmood ◽

Amna Gulrez ◽

Anum Sultan ◽

Zeshan Nasir ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Final Analysis ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Protective Gear ◽

Online Forms ◽

Tertiary Care Hospitals

Objective: To evaluate the prevailing practices regarding personal protective equipment in operation theaters. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Pakistan Naval Ship Shifa Hospital, Karachi, from May to Jun 2020. Methodology: After the approval of the approval of the hospital ethical committee, 300 online forms were send. A total of 227 respondents returned the 22 questions survey forms. Data was collected and analyzed using online site www.surveyplanet.com. Results: A total of 203 forms were included in our final analysis. Most 128 (63.1%) were males with 90 (44.3%)common aged between 31-40 years and 168 (82.8%) working in tertiary care hospitals. One hundred and fiftyeight (77.8%) were routinely managing known Covid cases per-operatively. One hundred and seventy four(85.7%) reported that personal protective equipment was being provided by the hospital administration; 55(27.1%) have bought part of full protective equipment at their own expense; 72 (35.5%) re-using protective equipment; 167 (82.3%) being provided with N-95 masks and 120 (59.1%) re-using N-95 masks. One hundred and twenty one (59.6%) wearing level III protective gear during all surgeries. 192 (94.6%) respondents reportedmaintaining hand hygiene after each patient. Only 65 (32%) taking shower at the hospital at the end of their shift. Conclusion: Most of the operation theaters were providing protective equipment to their staff with nearly half reusing protective gear and N-95 masks.

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Practice among Healthcare Workers Regarding the Use of Respiratory Protective Equipment during COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Center: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Journal of Nepal Medical Association ◽

10.31729/jnma.5500 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 59 (236) ◽

Author(s):

Sani Sipai ◽

Bishnu Rath Giri ◽

Sudhir Sapkota ◽

Ram Hari Chapagain ◽

Santosh Manandhar ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Confidence Interval ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Care Center ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Care Hospital ◽

Tertiary Care Center ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

Introduction: Healthcare workers are always at the risk of exposure to different diseases like respiratory illness including COVID-19. Using appropriate face mask or respiratory protective equipment correctly can prevent transmission of diseases from and to healthcare workers while caring for patients. The study aimed to find out the practice regarding use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic in a tertiary care center. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital during June-July 2020 after receiving ethical approval from the review committee regarding practice of use of face masks. Convenience sampling method was used and a sample size of 162 was taken. Descriptive statistical analysis was done. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: Among 162 participants, 123 (75.9%) knew the correct way of using the masks (72.5-79.3 at 95% Confidence Interval). Conclusions: In this study regarding practice of use of face masks, most of the healthcare workers knew the correct way of using masks and practised hygiene before and after using masks.

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Prevalence and risk factors of low back pain among operation room staff at a Tertiary Care Center, Makkah, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine ◽

10.1186/s40557-016-0089-0 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Moath Bin Homaid ◽

Doaa Abdelmoety ◽

Waleed Alshareef ◽

Amer Alghamdi ◽

Fareed Alhozali ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Low Back Pain ◽

Back Pain ◽

Care Center ◽

Tertiary Care ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Low Back ◽

Tertiary Care Center ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional

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COVID-19 infections among Healthcare Workers and Transmission within Households

10.1101/2020.06.12.20129619 ◽

2020 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kevin L. Schwartz ◽

Camille Achonu ◽

Sarah A. Buchan ◽

Kevin A. Brown ◽

Brenda Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Healthcare Workers ◽

Population Based ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Nosocomial Transmission ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Testing Bias

AbstractImportanceProtecting healthcare workers (HCWs) from COVID-19 is a priority to maintain a safe and functioning healthcare system. The risk of transmitting COVID-19 to family members is a source of stress for many.ObjectiveTo describe and compare HCW and non-HCW COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada, as well as the frequency of COVID-19 among HCWs’ household members.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsUsing reportable disease data at Public Health Ontario which captures all COVID-19 cases in Ontario, Canada, we conducted a population-based cross-sectional study comparing demographic, exposure, and clinical variables between HCWs and non-HCWs with COVID-19 as of 14 May 2020. We calculated rates of infections over time and determined the frequency of within household transmissions using natural language processing based on residential address.Exposures and OutcomesWe contrasted age, gender, comorbidities, clinical presentation (including asymptomatic and presymptomatic), exposure histories including nosocomial transmission, and clinical outcomes between HCWs and non-HCWs with confirmed COVID-19.ResultsThere were 4,230 (17.5%) HCW COVID-19 cases in Ontario, of whom 20.2% were nurses, 2.3% were physicians, and the remaining 77.4% other specialties. HCWs were more likely to be between 30-60 years of age and female. HCWs were more likely to present asymptomatically (8.1% versus 7.0%, p=0.010) or with atypical symptoms (17.8% versus 10.5%, p<0.001). The mortality among HCWs was 0.2% compared to 10.5% of non-HCWs. HCWs commonly had exposures to a confirmed case or outbreak (74.1%), however only 3.1% were confirmed to be nosocomial. The rate of new infections was 5.5 times higher in HCWs than non-HCWs, but mirrored the epidemic curve. We identified 391 (9.8%) probable secondary household transmissions and 143 (3.6%) acquisitions. Children < 19 years comprised 14.6% of secondary cases compared to only 4.2% of the primary cases.Conclusions and RelevanceHCWs represent a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario but with low confirmed numbers of nosocomial transmission. The data support substantial testing bias and under-ascertainment of general population cases. Protecting HCWs through appropriate personal protective equipment and physical distancing from colleagues is paramount.Key PointsQuestionWhat are the differences between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers with COVID-19?FindingsIn this population-based cross-sectional study there were 4,230 healthcare workers comprising 17.5% of COVID-19 cases. Healthcare workers were diagnosed with COVID-19 at a rate 5.5 times higher than the general population with 0.8% of all healthcare workers, compared to 0.1% of non-healthcare workers.MeaningHigh healthcare worker COVID-19 burden highlights the importance of physical distancing from colleagues, appropriate personal protective equipment, as well as likely substantial testing bias and under-ascertainment of COVID-19 in the general population.

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