Abstract
This study aims to determine the role of personal protective measures in the prevention of COVID-19 spread among the physicians working at different health facilities in Bangladesh. This hospital-based cross-sectional comparative study was conducted from May to June 2020. A total of 98 COVID-19 positive physicians and 92 COVID-19 negative physicians (physicians with no symptoms of COVID-19 or who tested negative) were enrolled. The questionnaire was adapted from a tool developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) for risk assessment and management of exposure of healthcare workers in the context of COVID-19. Data were collected from the respondents online using Google forms. There was no significant difference in baseline information between COVID-19 positive and COVID-19 negative physicians. The physicians, who were unaware of direct participation in COVID-19 patient care, had higher odds of being COVID-19 positive (OR = 4.018; CI: 1.532–10.535). Additionally, the physicians, who were unaware of the COVID-19 status while performing the aerosol-generated procedure (AGP), had a higher chance of being COVID-19 positive (OR = 2.522; CI: 1.020–6.233). Using face shields/goggles (OR = 0.437; CI:0.228–0.837) and regular decontamination of the patient’s surroundings (OR = 0.392; CI:0.176–0.873) while usual take care of patients and use of N95 masks while performing AGP (OR = 0.372; CI:0.159–0.873) had protective roles against COVID-19 among the physicians. The physicians who had reused the medical gown had two times more chances of being tested positive for COVID-19 than those who had not reused it (OR = 2.3; CI:1.251–4.259). The use of face shields/goggles and N95 masks and decontamination of the patient’s surroundings may give protection against COVID-19. Additionally, reusing medical gowns should be avoided as much as possible.
Highlights
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already affected millions of people with more than half-a-million deaths worldwide since the advent of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019
To better understand how to protect the physicians, we investigated the role of personal protective measures or protective equipment (PPE) use in the prevention of COVID-19 spread among the physicians working at different health facilities in Bangladesh
This study revealed that the mean age of physicians, who were sampled for this study, was 32.7 ± 5.4 years, and the age of physicians had no impact on the chance of being COVID-19 positive
Summary
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has already affected millions of people with more than half-a-million deaths worldwide since the advent of SARS-CoV-2 in late 2019. E.g., China, Singapore, and South Korea, are forerunners to win this run against this deadly virus, this pandemic is still a high-level concern in most countries across the globe. The infection rate and death toll are on the rise among South-Asian countries such as Bangladesh, India, and others [1]. Bangladesh has counted more than two hundred thousand infected people, along with numerous deaths [1, 2]. Health professionals are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than any other professionals as they have to work close to the patients [3]. The risk is higher among healthcare workers (HCWs) who are involved in the aerosol-generating procedure (AGP), such as noninvasive ventilation (NIV), high flow nasal
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