Assessment of relative risk of discomfort and its subjective perception associated with personal protective equipment: adaptation differences among staff in infectious disease and multidisciplinary hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic

UDC: 
614.89:614.253:[616.98-036.22:578.834.1SARS-CoV-2
DOI: 
10.21668/health.risk/2025.2.12.eng
Authors: 

K.A. Hutsich, S.L. Itpayeva-Liudchyk, K.A. Nikalayeva, I.V. Madeksha

Organization: 

Research Institute of Hygiene, Toxicology, Epidemiology, Virology and Microbiology of the state institution «Republican Center of Hygiene, Epidemiology and Public Health», 8 Akademicheskaya St., Minsk, 220012, Republic of Belarus

Abstract: 

The object of the study was represented by healthcare workers from infectious disease and multidisciplinary hospitals repurposed to treat COVID-19 patients.

The aim of the study was to assess subjective perception of discomfort associated with prolonged use of personal protective equipment (PPE) and to identify differences in adaptation to such working conditions between healthcare staff in infectious disease and multidisciplinary hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A survey was conducted among healthcare workers, including questions on daily duration of PPE use (medical masks/respirators, protective goggles, coveralls) and the presence of symptoms indicating adverse effects of prolonged PPE using.

Changes in working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in the proportion of healthcare workers regularly using PPE as well as a substantial rise in duration of its use. Prolonged PPE use during the pandemic resulted in an increased frequency of complaints related to PPE in both hospital types. Higher prevalence of complaints associated with PPE use was observed in the multidisciplinary hospital, both during routine and repurposing periods, as well as a greater change in the frequency of systemic physiological disorders while wearing respiratory PPE (difficulty breathing, sensation of shortness of breath, dizziness) during the pandemic in the multidisciplinary hospital compared to the infectious disease hospital. The identified inter-hospital differences likely reflect greater adaptability among staff in infectious disease hospitals to prolonged PPE use attributed to stringent infection control protocols and the availability of well-tested algorithms for working in routine daily practice.

These disparities in preparedness and adaptation of healthcare workers to PPE use in repurposed hospitals highlight the need for expanded implementation of occupational health risk management measures, emphasize the importance of optimizing PPE design, improving selection and usage protocols, introducing training programs on rational PPE use, and conducting regular health screenings for PPE-related adverse effects among healthcare workers.

Keywords: 
COVID-19, pandemic, healthcare workers, occupational health risks, subjective complaints, personal protective equipment (PPE), medical masks, protective goggles, protective coveralls
Hutsich K.A., Itpayeva-Liudchyk S.L., Nikalayeva K.A., Madeksha I.V. Assessment of relative risk of discomfort and its subjective perception associated with personal protective equipment: adaptation differences among staff in infectious disease and multidisciplinary hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Risk Analysis, 2025, no. 2, pp. 145–154. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2025.2.12.eng
References: 
  1. Drawing light from the pandemic: a new strategy for health and sustainable development – A review of the evidence. In: M. McKee ed. World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe. Available at: https://www.who.int/europe/publications/i/item/9789289051798 (April 14, 2025).
  2. European health report 2024: keeping health high on the agenda: highlights. World Health Organization, European Region. Copenhagen, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, 2025.
  3. How coronavirus disease has changed the environment and health landscape: a policy brief. World Health Organiza-tion, European Region. Copenhagen, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe, 2023.
  4. Gorblyansky Y.Y., Kontorovich E.P., Ponamareva O.P., Volynskaya E.I., Krishchenko V.N. Psychosocial occupational factors and the risk of health issues in healthcare workers. Yuzhno-Rossiiskii zhurnal terapevticheskoi praktiki, 2020, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 27–36. DOI: 10.21886/2712-8156-2020-1-3-27-36 (in Russian).
  5. Karamova L.M., Valeeva E.T., Vlasova N.V., Galimova R.R., Basharova G.R. Analysis of occupational risk factors causing diseases of the circulatory system in medical workers: literature review. Health Risk Analysis, 2021, no. 4, pp. 171–177. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2021.4.19.eng
  6. Smirnova S.S., Egorov I.А., Zhuikov N.N., Vyatkina L.G., Kharitonov А.N., Semenov А.V., Morova О.V. Risks of becoming infected with SARS-CoV-2 for medical personnel in a large industrial city during the pandemic: comparative assessment. Health Risk Analysis, 2022, no. 2, pp. 139–150. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2022.2.13.eng
  7. Hutsich K.A., Kosiachenko G.E., Sychik S.I., Nikalayeva E.A., Madeksha I.V. Subjective assessment of occupational risk factors for health and psychoemotional state of health care workers under changed working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Health Risk Analysis, 2023, no. 3, pp. 98–108. DOI: 10.21668/health.risk/2023.3.11.eng
  8. Kuzmina L.P., Leskina L.M., Golovkova N.P., Tolmachev D.A., Izmerova N.I., Osmanova P.Sh. The risk of COVID-19 infection in medical workers of a clinical hospital during a pandemic. Meditsina truda i promyshlennaya ekologiya, 2024, vol. 64, no. 11, pp. 748–754. DOI: 10.31089/1026-9428-2024-64-11-748-754 (in Russian).
  9. Yu J., Goldminz A., Chisolm S., Jacob S.E., Zippin J.H., Wu P.A., Hylwa S., Dunnick C.A. [et al.]. Facial personal protective equipment: materials, resterilization methods, and management of occupation-related dermatoses. Dermatitis, 2021, vol. 32, no. 2, pp. 78–85. DOI: 10.1097/DER.0000000000000699
  10. Tang H., Wang H., Hamblin M.R., Jiang L., Zhou Y., Xu Y., Wen X. Contact dermatitis caused by prevention measures during the COVID-19 pandemic: a narrative review. Front. Public Health, 2023, vol. 11, pp. 1189190. DOI: 10.3389/fpubh.2023.1189190
  11. Manookian A., Dehghan Nayeri N., Shahmari M. Physical problems of prolonged use of personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic: a scoping review. Nurs. Forum, 2022, vol. 57, no. 5, pp. 874–884. DOI: 10.1111/nuf.12735
  12. Zarei N., Negarandeh R., Eghbali M. Prevalence of headaches in healthcare workers while using personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open, 2024, vol. 14, no. 5, pp. e074596. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-074596.
  13. Batov V.E., Kuznetsov S.M. Assessment of personal protective equipment for medical personnel during a new corona-virus pandemic. Izvestiya Rossiiskoi voenno-meditsinskoi akademii, 2022, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 77–82. DOI: 10.17816/rmmar84027 (in Russian).
  14. Figi C.E., Herstein J.J., Beam E.L., Le A.B., Hewlett A.L., Lawler J.V., Lowe J.J., Gibbs S.G. Literature review of physiological strain of personal protective equipment on personnel in the high-consequence infectious disease isolation envi-ronment. Am. J. Infect. Control, 2023, vol. 51, no. 12, pp. 1384–1391. DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2023.05.005
  15. Houghton C., Meskell P., Delaney H., Smalle M., Glenton C., Booth A., Chan X.H.S., Devane D., Biesty L.M. Barriers and facilitators to healthcare workers' adherence with infection prevention and control (IPC) guidelines for respiratory infectious diseases: a rapid qualitative evidence synthesis. Cochrane Database Syst. Rev., 2020, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. CD013582. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD013582
  16. Cattelan A.M., Sasset L., Di Meco E., Cocchio S., Barbaro F., Cavinato S., Gardin S., Carretta G. [et al.]. An integrated strategy for the prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection in healthcare workers: a prospective observational study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 2020, vol. 17, no. 16, pp. 5785. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17165785
  17. George J., Shafqat N., Verma R., Patidar A.B. Factors influencing compliance with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) use among healthcare workers. Cureus, 2023, vol. 15, no. 2, pp. e35269. DOI: 10.7759/cureus.35269
  18. Brooks S.K., Greenberg N., Wessely S., Rubin G.J. Factors affecting healthcare workers' compliance with social and behavioural infection control measures during emerging infectious disease outbreaks: rapid evidence review. BMJ Open, 2021, vol. 11, no. 8, pp. e049857. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-049857
  19. Vechorko V.I., Averkov O.V., Silaev B.V., Zhenina E.A., Gorbachyova V.A., Shapsigova O.A., Tan'shina O.V., Gumenyuk S.A. Reprofiling of a multispecialty hospital into an infectious hospital and the work under coronavirus pandemic conditions. Diagnostika i lechenie novoi koronavirusnoi infektsii. Organizatsiya raboty v usloviyakh mnogoprofil'nogo statsionara: rukovodstvo dlya vrachei [Diagnosis and treatment of the new coronavirus infection. Organization of work in a multidisciplinary hospital: a guide for doctors]. In: V.I. Vechorko ed. Moscow, Praktika Publ., 2020, pp. 25–40 (in Russian).
  20. Nikitin A.E., Znamenskiy I.A., Shikhova Yu.A., Kuzmina I.V., Melchenko D.S., Aleshenko N.L., Korvyakov S.A., Sozykin A.V. [et al.]. Reorganization of a multi-specialty hospital in an unfavorable epidemiological situation. Mediko-farmatsevticheskii zhurnal «Pul's», 2020, vol. 22, no. 10, pp. 43–47. DOI: 10.26787/nydha-2686-6838-2020-22-10-43-47 (in Russian).
  21. Suzuki S. Conditional relative odds ratio and comparison of accuracy of diagnostic tests based on 2  2 tables. J. Epi-demiol., 2006, vol. 16, no. 4, pp. 145–153. DOI: 10.2188/jea.16.145
Received: 
17.03.2025
Approved: 
25.04.2025
Accepted for publication: 
14.06.2025

You are here

Home