Long-term retention following best practices instruction for proper donning and doffing of personal protective equipment.

BACKGROUND

The recent history of viral global epidemics highlights the importance of teaching the proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for personal safety and infection prevention. The present study evaluated long-term retention of knowledge for proper donning and doffing of PPE following face-to-face and video instruction.

METHODS

Three cohorts of residents were examined, with long-term retention assessment occurring in subsets of each cohort at least 7 months following initial training. Without instruction, the anesthesiology residents donned appropriate PPE and then sprayed with Glo Germ before doffing to identify areas of contamination. Following instruction, the process was repeated both immediately post-training and at long-term follow-up.

RESULTS

Twenty-three participants completed long-term assessment. Overall donning compliance from post-training to long-term retention did not change significantly (mean difference = -4.5%; 95% CIs: -10.7%, 1.7%; P = .105); however, doffing compliance decreased significantly (mean difference = -20.7%; 95% CIs: -28.1%, -13.4%; P < .001). Contamination rates of multiple sites increased by 17.4% (P = .248), though did not reach statistical significance.

CONCLUSIONS

At long-term follow-up, there was a higher retention of proper donning with a decay of knowledge with doffing. It is important to implement educational maintenance programs, not single courses, for healthcare workers to prevent contamination during these common, highly virulent epidemics.