Personal Protective Equipment and Hand Hygiene Status in Health Care Workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic presents a major risk to Health Care Workers (HCWs), which necessitates protective strategies. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and Hand Hygiene (HH) could prevent COVID-19 infections in healthcare facilities. Our study aimed to determine the level of PPE proper use among HCWs of Mashhad educational hospitals as well as their level of HH.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted from January 1st, 2021 to January 1st, 2022 in three educational hospitals in Mashhad. A standard checklist was arranged based on the WHO guidelines and was filled out by the supervisors. Data were analyzed using SPSS v23.0.Results: The total HCWs included in this study were 246, including 154 women. The majority of the participating staff were nurses 135 (54.9%). The most common PPE was the N95 mask (71.1%). One hundred and eighty-four people (46.3%) washed their hands through the standard method, and there was no significant difference between men and women. Also, the level of correct PPEs donning and doffing was 42.2% and 28.4%; respectively. PPE donning was not significantly different between men and women. However, we found a significant difference in doffing PPE.Conclusion: It became evident that HCWs paid moderate attention to PPE and HH, demanding HCWs training to prevent infectious diseases such as the COVID-19.