Headaches Associated With Personal Protective Equipment – A Cross‐Sectional Study Among Frontline Healthcare Workers During COVID‐19

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is an emerging infectious disease of pandemic proportions. Healthcare workers in Singapore working in high‐risk areas were mandated to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 face mask and protective eyewear while attending to patients. Obj...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Headache 2020-05, Vol.60 (5), p.864-877
Main Authors: Ong, Jonathan J.Y., Bharatendu, Chandra, Goh, Yihui, Tang, Jonathan Z.Y., Sooi, Kenneth W.X., Tan, Yi Lin, Tan, Benjamin Y.Q., Teoh, Hock‐Luen, Ong, Shi T., Allen, David M., Sharma, Vijay K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
coronavirus disease
coronavirus disease 2019
Coronavirus Infections - epidemiology
Coronavirus Infections - prevention & control
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Cross-Sectional Studies
Diagnosis
Disorders
Emergency medical care
Emergency medical services
Emergency response
Eyewear
face mask
Female
goggles
Headache
Headache - epidemiology
Headaches
Health care
Health Personnel - statistics & numerical data
healthcare workers
Humans
Infectious diseases
Male
Medical personnel
N95
Pandemics
Pandemics - prevention & control
personal protection equipment (PPE)
Personal protective equipment
Personal Protective Equipment - adverse effects
Physicians
Pneumonia, Viral - epidemiology
Pneumonia, Viral - prevention & control
Protective equipment
Risk analysis
Risk factors
Singapore - epidemiology
Surveys and Questionnaires
Viral diseases
Workers
Young Adult
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Summary:Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) is an emerging infectious disease of pandemic proportions. Healthcare workers in Singapore working in high‐risk areas were mandated to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) such as N95 face mask and protective eyewear while attending to patients. Objectives We sought to determine the risk factors associated with the development of de novo PPE‐associated headaches as well as the perceived impact of these headaches on their personal health and work performance. The impact of COVID‐19 on pre‐existing headache disorders was also investigated. Methods This is a cross‐sectional study among healthcare workers at our tertiary institution who were working in high‐risk hospital areas during COVID‐19. All respondents completed a self‐administered questionnaire. Results A total of 158 healthcare workers participated in the study. Majority [126/158 (77.8%)] were aged 21‐35 years. Participants included nurses [102/158 (64.6%)], doctors [51/158 (32.3%)], and paramedical staff [5/158 (3.2%)]. Pre‐existing primary headache diagnosis was present in about a third [46/158 (29.1%)] of respondents. Those based at the emergency department had higher average daily duration of combined PPE exposure compared to those working in isolation wards [7.0 (SD 2.2) vs 5.2 (SD 2.4) hours, P 
ISSN:0017-8748
1526-4610
DOI:10.1111/head.13811