Knowledge and Practices Regarding Doffing of Personal Protective Equipment Among Frontline Health Care Workers During COVID-19

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has become a widely talked topic due to the recent Corona virus pandemic which was declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in March, 2020. The objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and practices regarding doffing of Personal Protective Equipment among front line health care workers in District General Hospital Matara, Sri Lanka.

Method: A total of 279 front line health care workers attached to COVID-19 units in District General Hospital Matara were included in the study consisting of all categories of health care workers.

Results: Majority were nurses (55.2%; n=154) while 33.7% (n=33.7) were medical officers. Only 68.1% (n=190) have received training on how to wear PPE before appointing to work in COVID-19 units. Overall knowledge on types of PPE and doffing practices was >80% and >60% respectively. There was a significant positive association between participating in a training session on PPE and the knowledge on correct doffing practices (X2=7.081; p=0.012). A significant number of medical officers did not wear impermeable gowns (p=0.001), gloves (p=0.048), face shields (p=0.008), goggles (p<0.001) and boots (p<0.001) compared to the other categories taken together. Majority of the participants (46.2%) stated ‘shortage of PPE’ as the reason for inadequate use of PPE.

Conclusion: Quality and timely training on PPE and continuous availability of PPE are important in reducing trans­mission of infectious diseases.