Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on adherence to infection prevention and control measures between 2019 and 2021 in Swiss sentinel private practices: repeated cross-sectional surveys.
Swiss Med Wkly
; 152: w30170, 2022 05 23.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1911923
ABSTRACT
AIMS OF THE STUDY The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of infection prevention and control (IPC) measures in health care settings, including primary care. We aimed to describe how it influenced adherence to infection prevention and control measures in private practices in the Swiss sentinel network (Sentinella). METHOD:
An online cross-sectional survey was sent to the 181 Sentinella practices in 2021 that included questions on the practice's spatial organisation, staff habits and vaccination coverage, ventilation, mask wearing, hand hygiene, as well as triage and separation of patients with suspected infection. Results were compared with those of a 2019 survey conducted in the same setting.RESULTS:
We received 127 valid questionnaires (70.2% response rate). At the time of the study, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination was underway among physicians (51.3%). Between 2019 and 2021, an absence of specific recommendations on mask wearing for staff (55.7%) changed into a recommendation for continuous wearing (93.7%); hand hygiene improved, especially upon arrival at the practice (63.9% vs 85.8%; p <0.001) and before examining patients (74.6% vs 88.2%; p <0.010); impossibility of distancing symptomatic patients dropped (27.9% vs 3.9%, p <0.001); and ventilation and cleaning improved (p <0.001).CONCLUSIONS:
The COVID-19 pandemic led to important changes in adherence to the recommended IPC measures.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Randomized controlled trials
Topics:
Vaccines
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Swiss Med Wkly
Journal subject:
Medicine
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Smw.2022.w30170
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