Physical therapists’ use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Physical therapy (PT) services can be essential for recovery from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection. Maintaining an efficient healthcare service is achieved by ensuring the safety of a well-informed healthcare practitioner. This study aimed to assess the sources of knowledge, attitude, experience, and accessibility to the personal protective equipment (PPE) of the physical therapists working in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to survey on-duty PT practitioners using a web-based questionnaire. Licensed PT practitioners were invited to participate, and a sample of 424 therapists responded. The questionnaire comprised of 22 questions covering the demographic data and the following domains: sources of knowledge regarding the pandemic, experience, and attitude of the therapists during the pandemic, and accessibility to the PPE. Results: Around 83% of the participants (352) completed all the survey questions. Governmental websites were the most used source of knowledge (39%). Hand sanitization was implemented by the majority of participants (81%). Participants, mainly males and experienced therapist, were willing to treat COVID-19 patients. The COVID-19 complications of prolonged ventilation and immobilization were successfully treated by 91.2% of participants who treated positive cases. About a third of the participants were part of COVID-19 management planning teams or received training to deal with the pandemic. Most of the necessary PPE was adequately accessible during the pandemic. Conclusions: Therapists implemented the recommended hygienic practices and had no problems accessing the necessary PPE. More efforts should target therapists’ education about the social media misleading information and involving the therapists in the pandemic management planning teams.