Abstract :
Background: To study the cutaneous manifestations of health care workers wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) during COVID care.
Materials and Methods: This study was carried out in Silchar Medical College and Hospital (SMCH), Silchar, Assam, India. Healthcare providers of SMCH were provided with comprehensive picture based Google form. A total of 63 health care professionals enrolled voluntarily in the study and filled up the questionnaire. The responses were collected and tabulated.
Results: The mean age of health care workers was 29.2 years. There were 36(57.14%) males and 27(42.85%) females. Out of these, 43(68.25%) were doctors, 14(22.22%) were nurses and 6 (9.52%) were Allied health professionals (AHP). Cutaneous manifestations due to use of PPE were reported in 60(95.23%) participants. Common skin manifestations due to use of masks were ear soreness (61.90%), pressure bruises (44.44%), acne (11.11%). Cutaneous manifestations are frequent with the use of gloves, out of which most common was contact rash and itching (34.92%). Problems due to body protection were less compared to mask and gloves. Excessive sweating and miliaria (73.01%) are most common followed by intertrigo (39.68%) and folliculitis (20.63%).
Conclusion: This study throws light on the difficulties faced by the health care workers during COVID crisis and highlights few measures by which they can be prevented.
Keyword :
COVID-19, HCPs