A survey of personal protective equipment use among US otolaryngologists during the COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: American journal of otolaryngology Vol. 41; no. 6; p. 102735
• Main Authors: Yu, Karina, Micco, Alan G., Ference, Elisabeth, Levy, Joshua M., Smith, Stephanie Shintani
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2020; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Aerosols; Betacoronavirus; Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology; Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control; Coronavirus Infections - transmission; Coronaviruses; COVID-19; Eye protection; Gloves; Humans; Infection Control; Infectious Disease Transmission, Patient-to-Professional - prevention & control; Masks; Otolaryngologists; Otolaryngology; Pandemics; Pandemics - prevention & control; Patients; Personal protective equipment; Personal Protective Equipment - statistics & numerical data; Physicians; Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology; Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control; Pneumonia, Viral - transmission; Polls & surveys; Protective equipment; Recruitment; SARS-CoV-2; Security; Surgery; Surveys and Questionnaires; Training; United States - epidemiology; United States; United States > US; COVID-19; Personal protective equipment; SARS-CoV-2; PPE; PAPR; pAGP; AGP
• ISSN: 0196-0709; 1532-818X; 1532-818X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2020.102735

Describe current practices and challenges in personal protective equipment (PPE) use among US otolaryngologists during the COVID-19 pandemic. Online survey. Academic and non-academic healthcare institutions. Subjects included US otolaryngology physicians. Emails were sent on April 17, 2020 to program coordinators at 121 residency programs, who were requested to forward the email to program directors for distribution. Further recruitment occurred through snowball recruitment. The survey was closed on June 15, 2020. Sixty-one participants completed the survey. 95.1% reported routine access to full PPE (N95 ± powered air purifying respirator [PAPR], gown, gloves, eye protection) for aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) in COVID-19 patients, while 68.9% had routine access to full PPE for AGPs in patients without confirmed COVID-19. 88.5% had routine access to full PPE for potential aerosol-generating procedures (pAGPs) in COVID patients, while 80.3% had routine access to full PPE for pAGPs in patients without confirmed COVID. All participants felt that they “always” or “usually” had necessary PPE to safely perform procedures and surgeries on COVID patients. 83.6% received N95 fitting in the past year, and 93.4% reported adequate PPE training. The majority of participants reported routine access to full PPE for AGPs and pAGPs in all patients, regardless of COVID status. There was a high perception of security, as well as adequate N95 fitting and PPE training. Areas for improvement include: optimizing PPE availability for AGPs in patients without confirmed COVID and wider recognition of otolaryngologic procedures as high risk for aerosolization.