Knowledge, attitude and reported practice regarding donning and doffing of personal protective equipment among frontline healthcare workers against COVID-19 in Nepal: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory infection with a high rate of transmission primarily via airborne route and direct contact. Proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is a proven and effective way to prevent COVID-19 spread in healthcare settings. This study was done aiming to assess the knowledge, attitude, and reported practice, and identify the associated factors regarding donning and doffing of PPE among frontline healthcare workers in Nepal. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from 25^th April to 30^th July 2021 among 205 frontline healthcare workers of Nepal selected randomly from among the contacts of the investigators. A structured self-administered questionnaire prepared in google form was used as a study tool and shared via social media to the participants to obtain information on socio-demographic and workplace characteristics along with their knowledge, attitude, and reported practice regarding donning and doffing of PPE. Result: A total of 79.5% of participants had satisfactory knowledge while 75.6% had satisfactory practice scores regarding donning and doffing of PPE. Factors such as the profession of the participants (p-value = 0.048), their workplace (p-value = 0.005), provision of PPE at workplace (p-value = 0 .009), and availability of designated space at workplace for methodical donning and doffing of PPE (p-value = 0.010) were significantly associated with satisfactory knowledge score whereas availability of designated space at workplace for donning and doffing of PPE was significantly associated with good practice score (p-value = 0.009). Conclusion: This study demonstrated an overall good knowledge, attitude, and reported practice regarding donning and doffing of PPE among frontline healthcare workers in Nepal. However, the reported shortcomings like poor knowledge regarding the sequence of donning and doffing and corresponding flawed practice behaviors need to be addressed.