Title
Heat Strain and Use of Heat Mitigation Strategies among COVID-19 Healthcare Workers Wearing Personal Protective Equipment—A Retrospective Study
Author
Bongers, C.C.W.G.
de Korte, J.Q.
Zwartkruis, M.
Levels, K.
Kingma, B.R.M.
Eijsvogels, T.M.H.
Publication year
2022
Abstract
The combination of an exacerbated workload and impermeable nature of the personal protective equipment (PPE) worn by COVID-19 healthcare workers increases heat strain. We aimed to compare the prevalence of heat strain symptoms before (routine care without PPE) versus during the COVID-19 pandemic (COVID-19 care with PPE), identify risk factors associated with experiencing heat strain, and evaluate the access to and use of heat mitigation strategies. Dutch healthcare workers (n = 791) working at COVID-19 wards for ≥1 week, completed an online questionnaire to assess personal characteristics, heat strain symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the access to and use of heat mitigation strategies. Healthcare workers experienced ~25× more often heat strain symptoms during medical duties with PPE (93% of healthcare workers) compared to without PPE (30% of healthcare workers; OR = 25.57 (95%CI = 18.17–35.98)). Female healthcare workers and those with an age
Subject
Cooling interventions
COVID-19 nurses
Health care personnel
Heat strain
Protective clothing
Thermal stress
comparative study
cooling
health care
health worker
risk factor
age distribution
beverage
cohort analysis
cold
comparative study
control strategy
controlled study
coronavirus disease 2019
coronavirus disease 2019 ward
Dutchman
exposure
eye protection
food intake
heat stress
male
nursing unit
pandemic
prevalence
questionnaire
retrospective study
risk factor
sex difference
sport
work
heat
protective equipment
Netherlands
Adult
COVID-19
Female
Health Personnel
Hot Temperature
Humans
Pandemics
Personal Protective Equipment
Retrospective Studies
SARS-CoV-2
To reference this document use:
http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:2eadd7b4-e40f-418e-9279-ced43a63d385
DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19031905
TNO identifier
967521
ISSN
1661-7827
Source
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (19)
Document type
article