Keywords
COVID-19; pandemic; protective personal equipment; donning; doffing; health care providers
Abstract
Introduction. Health care providers are at high risk of becoming infected when taking care of patients who have COVID-19, especially while attending aerosol generating procedures. Protective personal equipment must be used in the correct manner to prevent transmission of the disease. Published protocols on protective personal equipment (PPE) donning and doffing have been issued by disease control agencies. Methods. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was designed. An online anonymous questionnaire, which was validated and tested for reliability, focused on PPE related knowledge, donning and doffing practices of healthcare providers across the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. Results. A total of 312 healthcare providers across the eastern region of Saudi Arabia participated in the study, 208 physicians (66.7%) and 104 non-physicians (33.3%). Results indicate poor practice regarding PPE donning (13.8% reported the correct sequence) and PPE doffing (3.5% reported the correct sequence) among participants. In addition, practice and confidence scores regarding other issues with PPE were analyzed. Based on questionnaire responses, being male (T=2.825; p=0.008), being a non-physician (T=-2.120; p=0.014) and being an allied medical professional (F=5.379; p=0.003) were significantly associated with higher confidence levels. Also, being a consultant was significantly associated with higher practice scores (F=4.774; p=0.008). Conclusion. The study demonstrates deficiencies among healthcare providers in following the recommended practices for correctly using PPE during the pandemic. Poor practice in PPE donning and doffing necessitates additional educational and training programs focused on infection control practices.
References
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[13] Baron P. Generation and Behavior of Airborne Particles (Aerosols).
[14] Jh V, Jh R, Fs KB. Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare sta (Review). 2020. doi:10.1002/14651858.
[15] Center for disease control and prevention. Use Personal Protective Equipment ( PPE ) When Caring for Patients with Confirmed or Suspected COVID-19. Cent Dis Control Prev. 2020;1–2.
[16] Hegde S. Which type of personal protective equipment (PPE) and which method of donning or doffing PPE carries the least risk of infection for healthcare workers? Evid Based Dent. 2020;21(2):74–6. doi:10.1038/s41432-020-0097-3
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[22] WHO 2016. Integrated surveillance of COVID - 19 in Italy. Published Online 2020;943.
[23] Baloh J, Reisinger HS, Dukes K, Da Silva JP, Salehi HP, Ward M, Chasco EE, Pennathur PR, Herwaldt L. Healthcare Workers’ Strategies for Doffing Personal Protective Equipment. Clin Infect Dis. 2019;69(Suppl 3):S192–8. doi:10.1093/cid/ciz613
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[26] Tong X, Ning M, Huang R, Jia B, Yan X, Xiong Y, Wu W, Liu J, Chen Y, Wu C. Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 infection among frontline health care workers in Wuhan during COVID-19 outbreak. Immunity, Inflamm Dis. 2020;8(4):840–3. doi:10.1002/iid3.340
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[29] NCIRD. Personal protective equipment (PPE) burn rate calculator [Internet]. National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD). 2020. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/ppe-strategy/burn-calculator.html 1. Lu H, Stratton CW, Tang YW. Outbreak of pneumonia of unknown etiology in Wuhan, China: The mystery and the miracle. J Med Virol. 2020;92(4):401-402. doi:10.1002/jmv.25678