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J Public Health (Oxf)
. 2021 Mar 26;fdab078.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab078. Online ahead of print.
Preparedness and attitude toward personal protective equipment among house officers during COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt
Asmaa Ahmed Sayed 1 , Marwa Mostafa Ahmed 1 , Inas Talaat Elsayed 1 , Soliman Saeed 1 , Alsallout Inas 1 , Elfazary Nouran 1 , Fares Samar 1
Affiliations
- PMID: 33765145
- DOI: 10.1093/pubmed/fdab078
Abstract
Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) struck the world by surprise by the rising numbers that required prompt governmental and hospital staff reaction to the ongoing crisis. A robust preparedness and personal protective equipment (PPE) were yet to be regarded as our best plan.
Methods: A survey study was conducted on 254 Egyptian house officers using an anonymous web-based questionnaire that was filled using Google Forms after obtaining online informed consent.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 25 years. Only 28.74% of the house officers were categorized as having a good preparedness, while 85.83% of them have a good PPE attitude. The preparedness and willingness were significantly associated with the overall worry related to the pandemic (P value = 0.012). Fear of contracting COVID-19 infection negatively affected their preparedness by 60% (odds ratio (OR) 0.40, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.17-0.93, P value = 0.034). The House officers with family members at-risk for severe COVID-19 were less likely to be prepared and willing by 70% (OR 0.30, 95% CI 0.15-0.60, P value = 0.001). The house officers with good preparedness and willingness to deal with COVID-19 seemed to have a good PPE attitude (OR 11.48, 95% CI 2.43-54.34, P value = 0.002).
Conclusion: A significant number of house officers expressed low levels of preparedness, while most of them have a good PPE attitude.
Keywords: COVID-19; house officers; personal protective equipment; preparedness.