Research Article

A University Hospital Healthcare Workers' High-Risk Contact with Patients Diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): a Cross-Sectional Evaluation

Volume: 60 Number: 2 June 30, 2021
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A University Hospital Healthcare Workers' High-Risk Contact with Patients Diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): a Cross-Sectional Evaluation

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to determine the risk level of contact with COVID-19 positive patients among healthcare workers (HCW) at a university hospital in Turkey and to demonstrate the factors associated with high-risk contact. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study included all contacts from March 11 to May 31, 2020. Risk contact status (High / Medium / Low) was the dependent variable. Independent variables are defined on the basis of personal characteristics, occupational health and safety data and communication data. Logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the corrected relationships of all descriptive variables obtained using chi-square and student’s t tests with the dependent variable. Results: A total of 1043 contact cases were included. Taking COVID-19 clinics as a reference, other clinics and areas outside the clinics were found to involve 1.57-fold [95%CI:1.10–2.22] and 2.20-fold (95%CI:1.22–3.96) higher risk of exposure, respectively. The contact of HCW with each other was found to pose a 5.78-fold (95%CI: 4.07–8.20) higher risk, whereas nonhospital settings posed a 13.34-fold (95% CI:5.24–33.96) higher risk than contact with patients. Conclusion: The fact that high-risk contact was less common among the frontline sites and HCW’s can be interpreted as an indicator that HCW have improved themselves in terms of the use of personal protective equipment and infection control measures.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Health Care Administration

Journal Section

Research Article

Publication Date

June 30, 2021

Submission Date

March 26, 2021

Acceptance Date

May 20, 2021

Published in Issue

Year 2021 Volume: 60 Number: 2

Vancouver
1.Seyfi Durmaz, Aslı Ata Teneler, Aysun Cevhertaş, Nurdan Filis, Atalay Aktuna, Raika Durusoy. A University Hospital Healthcare Workers’ High-Risk Contact with Patients Diagnosed with Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19): a Cross-Sectional Evaluation. EJM. 2021 Jun. 1;60(2):145-54. doi:10.19161/etd.903177

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