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Discrepancy found between self-reported, observed use of facial protective equipment
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SAN FRANCISCO — The self-reported compliance with facial protective equipment use procedures among health care workers was much higher than the compliance observed by a third party, researchers said here at ID Week 2013.
“Self-report and direct observation are complementary methods of measuring compliance with facial protective equipment recommendations,” Mary Bessesen, MD, of the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care System and the University of Colorado School of Medicine, told Infectious Disease News. “The study design precluded application of statistical tests, but compliance was numerically greater when measured by self-report.”
The study included health care personnel at seven institutions who were enrolled in the Respiratory Protection Effectiveness Clinical Trial (ResPECT), a randomized trial comparing medical masks and N95 respirators for prevention of occupational exposure to respiratory illness. Health care personnel were instructed to wear the facial protective equipment within 6 feet of patients who exhibited respiratory symptoms. The researchers measured self-reported compliance rates and third-party observations of compliance.
During the 2012-2013 respiratory virus season, 1,077 participants enrolled and completed the study, and 44,734 workday questionnaires were completed. There were 13,225 responses reporting exposure to the respiratory zone, and 89.3% reported wearing facial protective equipment during at least part of the time of the exposure.
There were 11,466 Handy Audit observations during the study period: 6,039 observations were of study participants and 5,427 were of nonparticipants. There were 968 observations of health care personnel in respiratory zones: 541 of study participants and 427 of nonparticipants. Among these, 40.5% of study participant observations and 7.7% of nonparticipant observations recorded compliance with facial protective equipment.
“Compliance with facial protective equipment among study participants was similar to hand hygiene compliance reports 20 years ago,” Bessesen said. “The infection control community engaged in extensive efforts to improve hand hygiene compliance, and we plan to engage in similar efforts to improve [facial protective equipment] compliance.”
Bessesen said her hospital is implementing an educational campaign to better educate employees about the CDC recommendation to wear facial protective equipment when caring for patients with respiratory illness. She and colleagues will compare compliance at this hospital with hospitals that continue usual efforts to encourage proper use of personal protective equipment during the 2013-2014 season. They also plan to compare compliance at their hospital during the 2013-2014 season with compliance during the 2012-2013 season.
For more information:
Tuder S. #133. Presented at: ID Week 2013; Oct. 2-6, 2013; San Francisco.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.