Ndèye Marème Sougou1,2,3, Jean Baptiste Diouf4, Amadou Amath Diallo3, Ibrahima Seck1,2. 1. Département de Médecine Préventive et Santé Publique, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal. 2. Institut de Santé et Développement, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar, Sénégal. 3. UMI3189 « Environnement, Santé, Sociétés », UCAD, CNRS, CNRST, USTTB, UGB, Saint-Louis, Sénégal. 4. Hôpital Roi Baudoin, Guédiawaye, Sénégal.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: health care systems in West Africa have been under strain since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exposure of health personnel to infection during the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported in several studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze health workers' actual and perceived risk in the first hospital faced with managing a community-acquired COVID-19 case in Senegal. METHODS: we conducted an exploratory descriptive study of health care providers' perception about their own risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-seven health-care providers were interviewed in personal, extensive interviews in this hospital. RESULTS: the fear of disease was present among the health staff. This fear was caused by several exogenous and endogenous factors, including the lack of knowledge of the virus and COVID-19 disease, the feeling of vulnerability due to insufficient availability of personal protective equipment, healthcare professionals' position in relation to the priesthood from the medical profession and the real and perceived risk of putting their family and their entourage in potentially dangerous situations. CONCLUSION: this study highlights the need for psycho-affective management of health care workers during this pandemic by taking the gender dimension into account. The provision of personal adequate protective equipment and stress management measures could enable front-line workers to cope with this pandemic in complete serenity. Copyright: Ndèye Marème Sougou et al.
INTRODUCTION: health care systems in West Africa have been under strain since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The exposure of health personnel to infection during the COVID-19 pandemic has been reported in several studies. The purpose of this study was to analyze health workers' actual and perceived risk in the first hospital faced with managing a community-acquired COVID-19 case in Senegal. METHODS: we conducted an exploratory descriptive study of health care providers' perception about their own risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Forty-seven health-care providers were interviewed in personal, extensive interviews in this hospital. RESULTS: the fear of disease was present among the health staff. This fear was caused by several exogenous and endogenous factors, including the lack of knowledge of the virus and COVID-19 disease, the feeling of vulnerability due to insufficient availability of personal protective equipment, healthcare professionals' position in relation to the priesthood from the medical profession and the real and perceived risk of putting their family and their entourage in potentially dangerous situations. CONCLUSION: this study highlights the need for psycho-affective management of health care workers during this pandemic by taking the gender dimension into account. The provision of personal adequate protective equipment and stress management measures could enable front-line workers to cope with this pandemic in complete serenity. Copyright: Ndèye Marème Sougou et al.
Authors: Diego Delgado; Fernando Wyss Quintana; Gonzalo Perez; Alvaro Sosa Liprandi; Carlos Ponte-Negretti; Ivan Mendoza; Adrian Baranchuk Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-04-18 Impact factor: 3.390
Authors: Muhammad Adeel Ahmed; Rizwan Jouhar; Naseer Ahmed; Samira Adnan; Marziya Aftab; Muhammad Sohail Zafar; Zohaib Khurshid Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-04-19 Impact factor: 3.390