Compliance and Side effects of face mask use in medical team managing COVID-19: A cross-sectional survey in a tertiary care hospital

Introduction The necessity of wearing personal protective equipment specially facemasks to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to healthcare workers has been emphasized in the current COVID-19 pandemic. This survey aimed to estimate the compliance and perceived side effects causing non-adherence to their use in medical personnel. Methods This cross-sectional survey was conducted in the period from March to June 2021including healthcare workers in a tertiary care isolation hospital in contact with COVID-19 cases. A designed online questionnaire was distributed to all teams and data were obtained with response rate 97.3%. Results The study included 302 participants. Adherence was recorded in 293 (97%) during shifts for mean duration of 6.84 +/- 2.9 h. Nearly 53% reported changing masks during shift due mask damage, then contamination with secretions of COVID-19 or suspected patients. The causes of non- adherence were perceived dyspnea then headache in 65.3 and 17%. The most commonly reported side effects in all participants were dyspnea (87.4%), headache (42.7%), and 62.3% of the participants reported that these side effects began within 6 h after wearing the mask and 41.1% said that these side effects disappear after less than 1 h. Conclusion Adherence to use of protective facemask between medical teams during the COVID-19 in our hospital was very satisfactory. The main side effects were perceived dyspnea and headache and recorded after prolonged use. There is a need to follow the burden of these side effects to avoid non-adherence and to take measures to reduce hours of work shifts especially during pandemics.