Swaminathan, RamanathanPerera, Mukundadura BimanthaPrasad, Shashi2023-06-222023-06-222022-03Swaminathan R, Mukundadura BP, Prasad S. Impact of enhanced personal protective equipment on the physical and mental well-being of healthcare workers during COVID-19. Postgrad Med J. 2022 Mar;98(1157):231-233. doi: 10.1136/postgradmedj-2020-139150. Epub 2020 Dec 3.0032-54731469-075610.1136/postgradmedj-2020-13915033273107http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14200/1068Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated the use of enhanced personal protective equipment (PPE) in healthcare workers in patient-facing roles. We describe the impact on the physical and mental well-being of healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE consistently. Methods: We conducted a single-centre, cross-sectional study among healthcare professionals who use enhanced PPE. A web-based questionnaire was disseminated to evaluate the effects on individuals' physical and mental well-being. Physical and mental impact was assessed through a visual analogue scale. Results: Prospective analysis of the views of 72 respondents is reported. 63.9% were women and 36.1% were men. Physical impact included exhaustion, headache, skin changes, breathlessness and a negative impact on vision. Communication difficulties, somnolence, negative impact on overall performance and difficulties in using surgical instrumentation were reported. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates the undeniable negative impact on the front-line healthcare workers using enhanced PPE and lays the ground for larger multicentric assessments given for it to potentially be the norm for the foreseeable future.enCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Ear, Nose & ThroatHealth services. ManagementArticlehttps://westmid.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/20.500.14200/1068/Impact%20of%20enhanced%20personal%20protective%20equipment%20on%20the%20physical%20and%20mental%20well-being%20of%20healthcare%20workers%20during%20COVID-19.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y