Reem Q Al Shabeeb, Esther Lee, Muhammad El Shatanofy, Erika Pashai, Ivy Benjenk, Marian Sherman, Eric Heinz, David Yamane, Marie L Borum
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected the practice of gastroenterology. Endoscopic procedures are aerosolizing procedures that carry the risk of COVID-19 transmission. Our national survey examined factors affecting gastroenterologists' fear of contracting COVID-19 during endoscopy.
Methods: An institutional review board-approved multicenter cross-sectional study used a snowball sample approach to disseminate a 42-question survey to gastroenterologists during a 3-month period in 2021, during the height of the pandemic. Physician demographics, information about personal protective equipment (PPE), negative pressure rooms, and COVID-19 vaccination status was collected. Likert scales were used to evaluate gastroenterologists' fear when performing endoscopy. Analysis was performed using Pearson's χ2, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon rank tests, with significance set at P < 0.05.
Results: Results from 69 respondents showed that 91.3% believed that PPE was adequate, 52.2% had PPE education and training, and 47.8% reported that PPE education decreased their fear of contracting COVID-19 during endoscopy. Fear decreased from first to subsequent endoscopies (P < 0.0005) and after COVID-19 vaccination (P < 0.0005). Higher levels of fear were associated with having comorbid conditions (P = 0.048), being the primary caregiver for or living with a person 65 years old or older (P = 0.041), having had to quarantine during the pandemic (P = 0.017), having not performed a procedure because of infectious risks (P = 0.005), and living with someone with comorbid conditions (P = 0.001).
Conclusions: Multiple factors affect gastroenterologists' fear of contracting COVID-19 during endoscopic procedures. Lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic about mitigating gastroenterologists' fear are potentially applicable to future circumstances that may be associated with significant infectious concerns.
期刊介绍：
As the official journal of the Birmingham, Alabama-based Southern Medical Association (SMA), the Southern Medical Journal (SMJ) has for more than 100 years provided the latest clinical information in areas that affect patients'' daily lives. Now delivered to individuals exclusively online, the SMJ has a multidisciplinary focus that covers a broad range of topics relevant to physicians and other healthcare specialists in all relevant aspects of the profession, including medicine and medical specialties, surgery and surgery specialties; child and maternal health; mental health; emergency and disaster medicine; public health and environmental medicine; bioethics and medical education; and quality health care, patient safety, and best practices. Each month, articles span the spectrum of medical topics, providing timely, up-to-the-minute information for both primary care physicians and specialists. Contributors include leaders in the healthcare field from across the country and around the world. The SMJ enables physicians to provide the best possible care to patients in this age of rapidly changing modern medicine.
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