Comfort and user acceptance of respirators in clinical practice – Does it matters?

Comfort and user acceptance of respirators in clinical practice – Does it matters?

Susan Jain¹, Kathy Dempsey¹, ,

¹Clinical Excellence Commission, St Leonards, Nsw, Australia
²University of New South Wales, Kensington, NSW, Australia


The effectiveness of any respirator is dependent on achieving and maintaining an adequate seal for the duration of its use. Infection prevention and control guidance supports continuous or extended use of respirators, but respirators may be difficult to tolerate for long durations and this may impact on health worker compliance to maintaining an adequate seal. The Clinical Excellence Commission (CEC) sought input on respirator (P2/N95) use experience from health workers providing direct clinical care to patients.

Aim
The aim of the study was to better understand the relationship between respirator comfort and user experience to improve health worker compliance to respiratory protection.

Method
An online self-administered survey was distributed to clinicians across 15 Local Health Districts and NSW Ambulance between November-December 2022 using Microsoft forms.

Findings
A total of 2623 surveys were completed, 109 were excluded as the participant had never used a respirator. Of the remaining 2514 respondents, almost all survey respondents (96%) had completed at least one quantitative fit test prior to the survey. Mask related pressure injuries (nose, cheek and/or chin) were reported by 42% of respondents. Other adverse effects reported include headache, fatigue, and dehydration, while wearing a respirator.

Conclusion
This survey has shown that implementation of a structured respiratory protection program along with fit testing improved health worker knowledge, skill and confidence in the respirator selection and use. However, strategies to prevent facial pressure injuries, adverse effects and improved comfort are some aspects to improve respirator compliance.

Biography

Susan Jain is the Principal Advisor and Research Lead of the IPAC/HAI program at the Clinical Excellence Commission, NSW. She has a Doctorate in transmission-based precautions and a Master of International Public Health from the University of New South Wales, Australia and a Master of Nursing from University of Wollongong. She has 14 category A* publications and conjoint academic at UNSW and guest lecturer at University of Sydney and University of Technology Sydney. Susan also holds the award of Credentialled Infection Control Professional-Expert, editorial board member at the Canadian IPAC Journal, member at the ISO and ASTAG-AMR committees.