TY - JOUR
T1 - Awareness and preparedness of healthcare workers against the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic
T2 - A cross-sectional survey across 57 countries
AU - contributors of the TMGH-Global COVID-19 Collaborative
AU - Huy, Nguyen Tien
AU - Chico, R Matthew
AU - Huan, Vuong Thanh
AU - Shaikhkhalil, Hosam Waleed
AU - Uyen, Vuong Ngoc Thao
AU - Qarawi, Ahmad Taysir Atieh
AU - Alhady, Shamael Thabit Mohammed
AU - Vuong, Nguyen Lam
AU - Truong, Le Van
AU - Luu, Mai Ngoc
AU - Dumre, Shyam Prakash
AU - Imoto, Atsuko
AU - Lee, Peter N
AU - Tam, Dao Ngoc Hien
AU - Ng, Sze Jia
AU - Hashan, Mohammad Rashidul
AU - Matsui, Mitsuaki
AU - Duc, Nguyen Tran Minh
AU - Karimzadeh, Sedighe
AU - Koonrungsesomboon, Nut
AU - Smith, Chris
AU - Cox, Sharon
AU - Moji, Kazuhiko
AU - Hirayama, Kenji
AU - Linh, Le Khac
AU - Abbas, Kirellos Said
AU - Dung, Tran Nu Thuy
AU - Mohammed Ali Al-Ahdal, Tareq
AU - Balogun, Emmanuel Oluwadare
AU - Duy, Nguyen The
AU - Mohamed Eltaras, Mennatullah
AU - Huynh, Trang
AU - Hue, Nguyen Thi Linh
AU - Khue, Bui Diem
AU - Gad, Abdelrahman
AU - Tawfik, Gehad Mohamed
AU - Kubota, Kazumi
AU - Nguyen, Hoang-Minh
AU - Pavlenko, Dmytro
AU - Trang, Vu Thi Thu
AU - Vu, Le Thuong
AU - Hai Yen, Tran
AU - Yen-Xuan, Nguyen Thi
AU - Trang, Luong Thi
AU - Dong, Vinh
AU - Sharma, Akash
AU - Dat, Vu Quoc
AU - Soliman, Mohammed
AU - Abdul Aziz, Jeza
AU - Shah, Jaffer
AU - Porru, Fabio
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave.METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training.RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors.INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type.
AB - BACKGROUND: Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, there have been concerns related to the preparedness of healthcare workers (HCWs). This study aimed to describe the level of awareness and preparedness of hospital HCWs at the time of the first wave.METHODS: This multinational, multicenter, cross-sectional survey was conducted among hospital HCWs from February to May 2020. We used a hierarchical logistic regression multivariate analysis to adjust the influence of variables based on awareness and preparedness. We then used association rule mining to identify relationships between HCW confidence in handling suspected COVID-19 patients and prior COVID-19 case-management training.RESULTS: We surveyed 24,653 HCWs from 371 hospitals across 57 countries and received 17,302 responses from 70.2% HCWs overall. The median COVID-19 preparedness score was 11.0 (interquartile range [IQR] = 6.0-14.0) and the median awareness score was 29.6 (IQR = 26.6-32.6). HCWs at COVID-19 designated facilities with previous outbreak experience, or HCWs who were trained for dealing with the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, had significantly higher levels of preparedness and awareness (p<0.001). Association rule mining suggests that nurses and doctors who had a 'great-extent-of-confidence' in handling suspected COVID-19 patients had participated in COVID-19 training courses. Male participants (mean difference = 0.34; 95% CI = 0.22, 0.46; p<0.001) and nurses (mean difference = 0.67; 95% CI = 0.53, 0.81; p<0.001) had higher preparedness scores compared to women participants and doctors.INTERPRETATION: There was an unsurprising high level of awareness and preparedness among HCWs who participated in COVID-19 training courses. However, disparity existed along the lines of gender and type of HCW. It is unknown whether the difference in COVID-19 preparedness that we detected early in the pandemic may have translated into disproportionate SARS-CoV-2 burden of disease by gender or HCW type.
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0258348
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0258348
M3 - Article
C2 - 34936646
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
IS - 12
M1 - e0258348
ER -