AB167. SOH21AS167. Assessment of health workers’ knowledge of the use of personal protective equipment for prevention of COVID-19
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AB167. SOH21AS167. Assessment of health workers’ knowledge of the use of personal protective equipment for prevention of COVID-19

Molly Brannock1, Gearóid McGeehan1, Sean-Tee Lim2, Dermot Hehir2, Sean Johnston2

1Postgraduate Medicine, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland; 2Department of General Surgery, Midlands Regional Hospital Tullamore, Tullamore, Ireland

Background: COVID-19 represents a highly infectious disease with a potential for healthcare workers (HCWs) getting infected due to inadequate protection while interacting with patients. Effective use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by HCWs is key to reducing the spread of COVID-19 infection in healthcare settings. The aim of this study was to investigate the local HCWs’ knowledge of the current COVID-19 PPE guidelines.

Methods: A questionnaire was designed to assess HCWs’ knowledge of appropriate PPE to wear during interactions with other staff, COVID-19 negative, COVID-19 suspected and COVID-19 positive patients. The questionnaire also assessed understanding of the terms ‘casual contact’, ‘close contact’, ‘aerosol generating procedures (AGPs)’ and correct PPE selection for AGPs. Questions were based on the multiple-choice question format and disseminated in paper format for HCWs to complete.

Results: There were 50 responses in total: 20 doctors, 15 medical students, 9 nurses and 6 allied-health-care professionals. Ninety-two percent reported they had full understanding of current COVID-19 recommendations for HCWs while no participant answered all questions correctly. Correct PPE choices for interactions with suspected and positive COVID-19 patients was 76% and 78% respectively. While 90% of participants indicated that they understood the definitions ‘casual contact’ and ‘close contact’, only16% and 32% respectively answered correctly. Only 29.8% chose the recommended PPE for AGPs.

Conclusions: This study highlights the gap in HCWs’ knowledge of the current PPE guidelines. A nation-wide survey may let us better understand the national understanding of the recommended COVID-19 precautions for HCWs.

Keywords: COVID-19; infectious disease; healthcare workers (HCWs); personal protective equipment; virus

Acknowledgments

Funding: None.

Footnote

Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

Ethical Statement: The authors are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Open Access Statement: This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits the non-commercial replication and distribution of the article with the strict proviso that no changes or edits are made and the original work is properly cited (including links to both the formal publication through the relevant DOI and the license). See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.

doi: 10.21037/map-21-ab167
Cite this abstract as: Brannock M, McGeehan G, Lim ST, Hehir D, Johnston S. SOH21AS167. Assessment of health workers’ knowledge of the use of personal protective equipment for prevention of COVID-19. Mesentery Peritoneum 2021;5:AB167.

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