RESEARCH ARTICLE


Adherence to Personal Protective Equipment Against Infectious Diseases Among Healthcare Workers in Arak-Iran



Mehdi Harorani1, 2, Kazem Ghaffari3, 4, Ali Jadidi1, Ali Khanmohamadi Hezave5, Fahimeh Davodabadi6, Niloofar Barati5, Saeed Amini4, 7, *
1 Department of Nursing, School of Nursing, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
2 Traditional and Complementary Medicine Research Center (TCMRC), Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
3 Department of Laboratory Sciences, Khomein University of Medical Sciences, Khomein, Iran
4 Molecular and Medicine Research Center, Khomein University of Medical Sciences, Khomein, Iran
5 Students Research Committee, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
6 Master of Nursing, Valiasr Educational and Medical Center, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran
7 Department of Public Health, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran


Article Metrics

CrossRef Citations:
2
Total Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 1352
Abstract HTML Views: 333
PDF Downloads: 288
Total Views/Downloads: 1973
Unique Statistics:

Full-Text HTML Views: 753
Abstract HTML Views: 205
PDF Downloads: 236
Total Views/Downloads: 1194



Creative Commons License
© 2021 Harorani et al.

open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

* Address correspondence to this author at Department of Public Health, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran;
Tel: +989188567534; Fax: 08633686443; E-mail: sa_536@yahoo.com


Abstract

Background:

Occupational exposure to blood and body secretions poses a significant risk of COVID-19, HIV, HCV, and HBV among healthcare workers (HCWs). Assessment of this exposure is necessary for optimized planning and policy-making measures. This study aimed to assess the exposure to occupational risk factors among emergency HCWs.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was performed on HCWs working in 3 educational hospitals affiliated with Arak University of Medical Sciences. The study sample included all HCWs working in emergency wards who met inclusion criteria. The data were collected using a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire and analyzed through analytical tests in SPSS software.

Results:

The 116 studied HCWs included 97 nurses and 19 physicians and medical specialties. The mean age was 31.06 with 4.7 years of work experience (207.8 hours per month) in working at the patient bedside. The results indicated that needlestick injuries have a significant positive and negative relationship with job history (p=0.001) and month-averaged working hours (p=0.012), respectively. 96.6% stated that wearing gloves is not necessary, 59.9% stated that they do not use protective glasses due to a decrease in their vision, while 50% did not use gowns due to the lack of gowns in the ward. 63.8%, 57.8%, 50%, 63.8%, 56% and 54.3% of the participants expressed shift work, a high number of hospitalized patients in the crowded ward, the need for high-speed working, high working load, an increase in working hours, and low working consent as the most important factors leading to an increment in blood transmitted diseases, respectively.

Conclusion:

It is necessary to design national surveillance systems to report exposed cases and develop measures and strategic plans considering the high effects of exposure to blood and body secretions.

Keywords: Occupational exposure, Blood transmitted diseases, Emergency ward, Physicians, Healthcare workers, Nurses.