Adverse Health Effects of Face Mask Usage Among Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Keywords:
COVID-19, Face mask, Adverse health effectsAbstract
Nurses’ use of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic has had adverse effects on nurses' health. This descriptive correlational research aims to determine the relationship between using face masks and the adverse health effects of using face masks among nurses during COVID-19. The participants were 421 nurses working in tertiary hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health in northern Thailand who were selected using multi-stage random sampling. The research instrument was a questionnaire, developed from the literature review, with a content validity index (CVI) of 1.0 and reliability level of .81. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square.
The results show that the types of face masks used among nurses included surgical face masks (97.62%) and N95 face masks (73.89%). Participants who wore N95 face masks and surgical face masks experienced adverse physical health effects at 92.93% and 81.02%, respectively. The most adverse physical health effects of both types were pressure injuries (90.35% and 71.29%, respectively). Participants who wore N95 face masks and surgical face masks experienced adverse mental health effects at 57.56% and 41.12%, respectively. The most common adverse mental health effects for both types were uncomfortable feelings (56.59% and 39.90%, respectively). The age, length of nursing service, and the number of working hours per day had a statistically significant relationship with adverse physical health effects (p < .05), and the number of working hours per day and the frequency of changing face masks had a statistically significant relationship with adverse mental health effects (p < .05).
The study's findings suggest that occupational health nurses and other pertinent staff should give priority to following guidelines in order to prevent the negative health effects of face mask use. This can be achieved by ensuring that nurses have the right number of working hours and quantity of face masks, which will enhance their quality of work.
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