Difficulties Experienced by Surgical Team Members with Operating Room COVID-19 Personal Protective Equipment Cerrahi Ekip Üyelerinin Ameliyathane COVİD-19 Kişisel Koruyucu Ekipmanlarla Yaşadığı Zorluklar
Medical Journal of Bakirkoy, cilt.20, sa.1, ss.62-71, 2024 (ESCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Özet
- Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2024
- Doi Numarası: 10.4274/bmj.galenos.2023.2023.8-15
- Dergi Adı: Medical Journal of Bakirkoy
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.62-71
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Operating room, COVID-19, personal protective equipment, side effects
- Sağlık Bilimleri Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Objective: During the pandemic, operating theaters were considered high-risk areas because of aerosol-generating procedures and devices. Therefore, the surgical team members had to wear multi-component high-level personal protective equipment to prevent occupational exposure. In the current study, we evaluated the side effects of operating room coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) personal protective equipment. Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 203 participants. Side effects in six thematic areas (respiration, vision, hearing-communication, thermal stress, movement-occupational skills, neurocognitive-psychological) were evaluated using a questionnaire and face-to-face interview. Results: The mean age was 32.6±8.4; 55.7% were women and 43.8% were doctors. Respiratory, vision, hearing, and communication limitations were determined as 91.6%, 94.1%, 61.6%, and 93.6%, respectively. Those who reported an increase in sweating, warmth, thirst and skin problems were 96.1%, 95.1%, 91.6% and 85.2%, respectively. Restrictions in movements and sense of touch were 88.2% and 80.3%, respectively. Decreased visual quality and psychological tolerance and increased thermal stress and sweating were higher in physicians (p<0.05). Hearing limitation was higher in nurses (p<0.05). Conclusion: The results showed that the members of the surgical team experienced serious difficulties while working with the operating room COVID-19 personal protective equipment, and that they were not prepared for strategies to deal with these problems. There must be a balance between the protective effects of this equipment and the user side effects. It is recommended that efforts should be focused on designing and producing new user-friendly and suitable equipment for employee health.