Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading  Processing Request

Availability of personal protective equipment and diagnostic and treatment facilities for healthcare workers involved in COVID-19 care: A cross-sectional study in Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador.

Item request has been placed! ×
Item request cannot be made. ×
loading   Processing Request
Read Online Read More Add to Saved list
  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Public Library of Science Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101285081 Publication Model: eCollection Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1932-6203 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 19326203 NLM ISO Abbreviation: PLoS One Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Original Publication: San Francisco, CA : Public Library of Science
    • Subject Terms:
      Coronavirus Infections/*diagnosis ; Health Personnel/*psychology ; Personal Protective Equipment/*statistics & numerical data ; Pneumonia, Viral/*diagnosis; Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification ; Brazil ; COVID-19 ; Colombia ; Coronavirus Infections/virology ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Ecuador ; Health Facilities ; Humans ; Pandemics ; Pneumonia, Viral/virology ; SARS-CoV-2 ; Surveys and Questionnaires
    • Abstract:
      Many affected counties have had experienced a shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. We aimed to investigate the needs of healthcare professionals and the technical difficulties faced by them during the initial outbreak. A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted among the healthcare workforce in the most populous cities from three Latin American countries in April 2020. In total, 1,082 participants were included. Of these, 534 (49.4%), 263 (24.3%), and 114 (10.5%) were physicians, nurses, and other professionals, respectively. At least 70% of participants reported a lack of PPE. The most common shortages were shortages in gown coverall suits (643, 59.4%), N95 masks (600, 55.5%), and face shields (569, 52.6%). Professionals who performed procedures that generated aerosols reported shortages more frequently (p<0.05). Professionals working in the emergency department and primary care units reported more shortages than those working in intensive care units and hospital-based wards (p<0.001). Up to 556 (51.4%) participants reported the lack of sufficient knowledge about using PPE. Professionals working in public institutions felt less prepared, received less training, and had no protocols compared with their peers in working private institutions (p<0.001). Although the study sample corresponded to different hospital centers in different cities from the participating countries, sampling was non-random. Healthcare professionals in Latin America may face more difficulties than those from other countries, with 7 out of 10 professionals reporting that they did not have the necessary resources to care for patients with COVID-19. Technical and logistical difficulties should be addressed in the event of a future outbreak, as they have a negative impact on healthcare workers. Clinical trial registration: NCT04486404.
      Competing Interests: Authors have declared no competing interest exist. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. CEMEDIP is a private institution based in Ecuador which provides academic training to healthcare related professionals and students. It has not been part of conception, design, data analysis or drafting the manuscript of this research. EV is part of CEMEDIP as partial-time professor for which he receives a salary. EV principal affiliation is with Santander Ophthalmologic Foundation FOSCAL where he currently in undergoing a fellow. We have updated the author affiliation. We attest that we have no commercial associations (e.g., equity ownership or interest, consultancy, patent and licensing agreements, or institutional and corporate associations) that might be a conflict of interest in relation to the submitted manuscript. All sources of funding in support of the work presented in the article are indicated.
    • References:
      BMJ. 2020 Apr 3;369:m1367. (PMID: 32245847)
      Infect Dis Model. 2020;5:282-292. (PMID: 32292868)
      BMJ. 2020 Mar 26;368:m1211. (PMID: 32217624)
      J Crit Care. 2020 Oct;59:70-75. (PMID: 32570052)
      BMC Res Notes. 2014 Oct 24;7:756. (PMID: 25341440)
      Health Soc Care Community. 2018 Jan;26(1):e94-e101. (PMID: 28730631)
      BMJ. 2020 Jun 10;369:m2195. (PMID: 32522737)
      Prim Health Care Res Dev. 2021 Oct 18;22:e55. (PMID: 34658322)
      N Engl J Med. 2020 Apr 30;382(18):e41. (PMID: 32212516)
      Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2000 Dec 15;25(24):3186-91. (PMID: 11124735)
      J Hosp Infect. 2020 May 30;:. (PMID: 32485198)
      Emerg Microbes Infect. 2020 Dec;9(1):1590-1599. (PMID: 32573350)
      CMAJ. 2008 Jul 29;179(3):245-52. (PMID: 18663204)
      JAMA. 2020 Jun 2;323(21):2133-2134. (PMID: 32259193)
      Lancet Public Health. 2020 Sep;5(9):e475-e483. (PMID: 32745512)
      JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Oct 5;8(10):e21692. (PMID: 32936769)
      Lancet. 2003 May 3;361(9368):1519-20. (PMID: 12737864)
      J Hosp Infect. 2020 May;105(1):100-101. (PMID: 32147406)
    • Molecular Sequence:
      ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04486404
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20201111 Date Completed: 20201118 Latest Revision: 20240330
    • Publication Date:
      20240330
    • Accession Number:
      PMC7657544
    • Accession Number:
      10.1371/journal.pone.0242185
    • Accession Number:
      33175877