Abstract
Due to the contagious nature of the COVID-19 virus, healthcare workers are at a great risk of infection. Since medical imaging plays a significant part in the healthcare system and is often used in the diagnosis of potential COVID-19 patients, the radiology personnel are at a very high risk of becoming infected. Purpose: This study aims to assess the enforcement of infection control guidelines for patients with COVID-19 during medical imaging procedures and raise awareness of infection control in different hospitals in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A total of 128 responses were collected from four hospitals across Saudi Arabia using a new structured questionnaire, which was created for health workers by the WHO specifically for this purpose. Data were collected during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. Results: Most participants correctly followed the guidelines of the WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on infection control in the X-ray and general radiology departments. Guideline awareness was higher among magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerised tomography (CT) radiographers, which reduced the risk of future infections. Out of the total respondents, 98.4% stated that they had received formal training in hand hygiene. Only 40.6% of participants, however, knew that respiratory droplets are the primary mode of transmission of the virus from person to person. Conclusion: The knowledge of healthcare professionals in the radiology department regarding infection control needs to be continually assessed. A focus on educational interventions on infection control is required in order to maintain well-informed medical staff.
Highlights
IntroductionThe focus of the world this year has been the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (COVID19)—a respiratory disease that was first reported in Wuhan, China, and presents a substantial danger to international health
Scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) and socio-demographic questions such as age and gender, followed by 15 questions covering essential knowledge on infection control practices in their respective radiology departments. Many of these questions were taken from an online survey originally created to measure COVID-19 awareness between healthcare students and professionals in Mumbai [13], as well as from the present acting guidance and information for healthcare workers published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) regarding infection control [12,14]
Upon the date of submission of this paper, this is the first study to assess the awareness of COVID-19 infection control guidelines among radiology staff in Saudi
Summary
The focus of the world this year has been the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (COVID19)—a respiratory disease that was first reported in Wuhan, China, and presents a substantial danger to international health. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic [1]. COVID-19 is assumed to be spread among people in near proximity to one another via respiratory droplets expelled by an infected individual coughing or sneezing. Saudi Arabia, to other countries, has been affected by this virus and the number of cases is increasing even though strict procedures are in place and the entire country is in lockdown. Due to the contagious nature of this disease, workers in healthcare sectors, such as hospitals, are at a high risk of infection with COVID-19 and the number of victims is rapidly increasing every day [2]
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