American Frontline Healthcare Personnel's Access to and Use of Personal Protective Equipment Early in the COVID-19 Pandemic.
J Occup Environ Med
; 63(11): 913-920, 2021 11 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1303971
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES:
To quantify adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) for U.S. healthcare personnel (HCP) at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with infection risk.METHODS:
March-May 2020 survey of the national Nurses' Health Studies and the Growing Up Today study regarding self-reported PPE access, use, and reuse. COVID-19 endpoints included SARS-CoV-2 tests and COVID-19 status predicted from symptoms.RESULTS:
Nearly 22% of 22,232 frontline HCP interacting with COVID-19 patients reported sometimes or always lacking PPE. Fifty percent of HCP reported not needing respirators, including 13% of those working in COVID-19 units. Lack of PPE was cross-sectionally associated with two-fold or greater odds of COVID-19 among those who interacted with infected patients.CONCLUSION:
These data show the need to improve the U.S. infection prevention culture of safety when confronting a novel pathogen.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Personal Protective Equipment
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
North America
Language:
English
Journal:
J Occup Environ Med
Journal subject:
Occupational Medicine
/
Environmental Health
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS