Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in COVID 19 Pandemic: Related Symptoms and Adverse Reactions in Healthcare Workers and General Population.

OBJECTIVES: To assess prevalence of Personal Protective Equipment-related symptoms and adverse reactions during Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemics. METHODS: We conducted an observational study among people exposed to various degree of infectious risk. Data were collected with a self-administered online questionnaire. RESULTS: The entire cohort complained about a wide range of adverse reactions: respiratory symptoms affected 80.3% of respondents, 68.5% referred pressure-related skin lesions, fewer manifested a dermatosis of different grade or ocular symptoms. Most of the affected individuals belonged to healthcare staff and manifestations were predicted by wearing time (> 6 hours/day). Moreover, symptoms were higher in the healthcare staff wearing N95/FFP2 respirator mask. CONCLUSIONS: Given the crucial role of PPE to contain the pandemic infection, more attention has to be paid to exposed categories, establishing preventive measure of side effects to ensure total safety.