ABSTRACT

Aim: To assess the compliance and difficulties faced by health care providers with variants of mask, eye protection and face shields.

Methodology: This cross sectional study took place from 2nd April 2020 till 30th April 2020. All participants meeting inclusion criteria filled online questionnaire regarding type of mask, eye protection and face shields they use in their outpatient clinics, ward rounds and while performing surgical procedures, which is their favorite feature of these, which of the characteristic of particular equipment, how often they readjust the mask and how long do they wear it daily on an average.

Results: A total of 196 participants were recruited in the study. The frequency of mask readjustment was most frequent by house officers 35(48.6%). Five (10.4%) of the consultants and 1(1.7%) of the medical students do not wear mask at all. In present study, the highest compliance was with N95 mask with filter 68(33.6%) 31(14.8%) wear goggles, 33(16.3%) wear face shield. The most comfortable characteristic of mask was chosen to be elastic ear loops 72(36.5%) voted by most of the house officers 27(37.5%) in which 40% wear it daily for 8 to 2 hours straight. Goggles leads to troublesome fogging interfering to an extent of limiting their performance and efficacy p <0.001. Luckily, 9(0.4%) came out to be positive in our research (p 0.47).

Conclusion: The choice of PPE should be based on the nature of interactions with patients and the modes of transmission but sadly it is seen to be much impacted by the discomfort faced by our front line worriers while wearing it that will adversely affect themselves the most.

Keywords: COVID-19, health care workers, personal protective equipment’s