Letter to the Editor: Impact of enhanced personal protective equipment on the physical and mental well-being of healthcare workers during COVID-19

We read with great interest the study by Swaminathan et al, which aimed to determine the effect of personal protective equipment (PPE) on the physical and mental well-being of patient-facing staff during the COVID-19 pandemic.1 It has been widely evidenced that COVID-19 has a profound impact on an individual’s physical and mental well-being,2 yet it is unclear to what extent PPE is a contributing factor. While we agree that the authors have provided valuable insight into this matter, we have some questions related to the design and reporting of this study. The authors state that ‘the impact on mental well-being was studied with a visual analogue scale (VAS) score of 7 and above for anxiety’. Therefore, the presented data on physical and mental well-being are derived from subjective factors by self-selected doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals. The cut-off of a VAS score of...
Source: Postgraduate Medical Journal - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: COVID-19 Letter Source Type: research