Assessment of the functional state of military medical personnel when using personal protective equipment during the СOVID-19 pandemic

Relevance. Personal protective equipment plays a leading role in reducing risks of infection and ensuring the safety of medical personnel during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, along with the positive “barrier” effect, personal protective equipment has a negative impact on human ergonomics, thus affecting the functional state and performance. Occupational activities of medical workers are often associated with complex, sometimes time-consuming operations; therefore, decreased functional state when using personal protective equipment can lead to errors and increase the health risks in both staff and patients.
Intention is to develop the main directions of preserving occupational performance of medical personnel when using personal protective equipment based on the study of the functional state.
Methodology. A sociological survey of 339 medical workers of the “red zone” of military medical organizations was conducted using an original questionnaire. Ergonomic indicators of personal protective equipment were assessed along with its negative influence.
Results and Discussion. All the survey participants mentioned negative impact on the functional state and performance when using personal protective equipment. The most frequent complaints included discomfort due to fogging of protective glasses (83 %), as well as damage to the skin from eye protection (82 %), respiratory protection (69 %), skin protection (suit, overalls) (38 %). According to the survey, headaches were statistically significantly associated with wearing personal protective equipment for more than 6 hours per shift (OR 1.66; 95 % CI: 1.07-2.56; p = 0.02), the age over 35 years (OR 2.44; 95 % CI: 1.49-4.00; p = 0.001), body mass index above 25 (OR 1.98; 95 % CI: 1.24-3.15; p = 0.003), overheating of the body (OR 2.27; 95 % CI: 1.41-3.66; p = 0.001).
Conclusion. The use of personal protective equipment when providing care to COVID-19 patients has a negative impact on the functional state and reduces the efficiency of medical personnel. Based on the results of the research, the main directions of preventive measures have been developed: selection of high-quality protective equipment, taking into account the anthropometric indicators of employees; ensuring optimal work and rest modes (no more than 4 hours of continuous work in personal protective equipment), monitoring and correction of the functional state of personnel at risk.

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