ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the impact of a single tutorial session on the technique of donning and doffing the personal protective equipment by health care workers Study

Design: Cross-sectional comparative study Place and Duration of Study: Combined Military Hospital, Landi Kotal Cantt, from Mar 2020 to Jun 2020 Methodology: Sixty two health workers were asked to demonstrate donning and doffing surgical mask, gown and gloves, and the steps were evaluated as per a standardized checklist Then, the participants were given a single tutorial for the donning and doffing technique of personal protective equipment They were asked to demonstrate the technique of personal protective equipment use one week, one month and three months after the tutorial Any improvement was recorded in the checklist used earlier

Results: The correct donning and doffing technique of personal protective equipment was demonstrated by 22 (35 5 %) and 14 (22 6 %) participants respectively before the tutorial When evaluated one week after the tutorial, this number increased to 48 (77 4 %) and 38 (61 3 %) respectively, showing significant improvement (p & lt; 0 05) The technique of personal protective equipment use deteriorated significantly one month after the tutorial and deteriorated further after three months (p & lt; 0 05) The most common fault while donning and doffing the equipment was the incorrect donning sequence, and self-contamination while taking off the gloves, demonstrated by 38 (61 3 %) and 47 (75 8 %) participants, respectively Conclusion: A single tutorial session results in significant improvement in the technique of using personal protective equipment by health care workers but the effect was lost over time