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. 2022 Jun;16(3):975-979.
doi: 10.1017/dmp.2020.438. Epub 2020 Nov 5.

Association of PPE Availability, Training, and Practices with COVID-19 Sero-Prevalence in Nurses and Paramedics in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan

Junaid Ahmad  1 , Saeed Anwar  1 , Abdul Latif  1 , Najib U Haq  2 , Muhammad Sharif  1 , Ahmed A Nauman  1
Affiliations

Association of PPE Availability, Training, and Practices with COVID-19 Sero-Prevalence in Nurses and Paramedics in Tertiary Care Hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan

Junaid Ahmad et al. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2022 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Nurses and paramedics by being the frontline workers of the health-care profession need to be equipped with the relevant knowledge, skills, and protective gears against different forms of infection, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Although the governments and concerned stakeholders have provided personal protective equipment (PPE), training and information to protect the health-care professionals; however, until now the scientific literature has virtually not reported the impact of PPE availability, training, and practices on the COVID-19 sero-prevalence among the nurses and paramedics. This study aimed to assess the impact of PPE availability, training, and practices on COVID-19 sero-prevalence among nurses and paramedics in teaching hospitals of Peshawar, Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted with a total of 133 nurses and paramedics as subjects of the study.

Results: A univariate analysis was done for 4 variables. The findings indicate that the health-care professionals (nurses and paramedics) who have received PPE on time at the start of COVID-19 emergence have fewer chances of contracting the COVID-19 infection (odds ratio = 0.96); while the odds for PPE supplies was 0.73, and the odds of hand hygiene training was 0.95.

Conclusions: The study concluded that the availability of the PPE, COVID-19-related training, and compliance with World Health Organization recommended practices against COVID-19 were instrumental in protection against the infection and its spread.

Keywords: COVID-19; PPE; Pakistan; practices; sero-prevalence; training.

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