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Multicenter Study
. 2021 Apr 12;43(1):67-75.
doi: 10.1093/pubmed/fdaa187.

Personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control: a national survey of UK medical students and interim foundation doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Emma Jane Norton  1   2 , Ioannis Georgiou  3 , Alex Fung  4 , Armin Nazari  5 , Soham Bandyopadhyay  6 , Kate E A Saunders  7
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Personal protective equipment and infection prevention and control: a national survey of UK medical students and interim foundation doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic

Emma Jane Norton et al. J Public Health (Oxf). .

Abstract

Background: The adequacy of personal protective equipment (PPE) and infection prevention and control (IPC) training in UK medical students and interim Foundation Year 1 (FiY1) doctors during the COVID-19 pandemic is unknown, as is its impact on COVID-19-related anxiety.

Methods: Cross-sectional, multi-centre study analysing self-reported adequacy of PPE and IPC training and correlation to a modified pandemic anxiety scale. Participants were current medical students and FiY1 doctors in the UK. Data were collected by an online survey.

Results: Participants reported that they received insufficient PPE information (43%) and IPC training (56%). Significantly, fewer participants identifying as women or BAME/mixed ethnicity reported receiving sufficient PPE information, compared with those identifying as men and White British/White Other, respectively. COVID-19-related anxiety was significantly higher in those without sufficient reported PPE or IPC training, in women compared with men, and in FiY1 doctors compared with medical students.

Conclusions: With medical students currently volunteering in and imminently returning to hospitals in an educational capacity, levels of self-reported PPE and IPC training are sub-optimal. Better training is paramount to avoid harm to patients and healthcare professionals and to reduce COVID-19-related anxiety among medical students and FiY1 doctors.

Keywords: COVID-19; coronavirus; infection prevention and control; interim foundation doctors; medical students; personal protective equipment.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Source of PPE information and IPC training by role.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Interval plots illustrating COVID-19-related anxiety (mean and 95% CI).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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