Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, UK.
UK Health and Safety Executive, Harpur Hill, Buxton, Derbyshire, UK.
Am J Infect Control. 2022 Aug;50(8):878-884. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.01.019.
Face shields were widely used in 2020-2021 as facial personal protective equipment (PPE). Laboratory evidence about how protective face shields might be and whether real world user priorities and usage habits conflicted with best practice for maximum possible protection was lacking - especially in limited resource settings.
Relative protective potential of 13 face shield designs were tested in a controlled laboratory setting. Community and health care workers were surveyed in middle income country cities (Brazil and Nigeria) about their preferences and perspectives on face shields as facial PPE. Priorities about facial PPE held by survey participants were compared with the implications of the laboratory-generated test results.
No face shield tested totally eliminated exposure. Head orientation and design features influenced the level of protection. Over 600 individuals were interviewed in Brazil and Nigeria (including 240 health care workers) in March-April 2021. Respondents commented on what influenced their preferred forms of facial PPE, how they tended to clean face shields, and their priorities in choosing a face cover product. Surveyed health care workers commonly bought personal protection equipment for use at work.
All face shields provided some protection but none gave high levels of protection against external droplet contamination. Respondents wanted facial PPE that considered good communication, secure fixture, good visibility, comfort, fashion, and has validated protectiveness.
面罩在 2020-2021 年期间被广泛用作面部个人防护装备（PPE）。关于面罩的防护效果以及实际使用者的优先事项和使用习惯是否与实现最大防护效果的最佳实践相冲突的实验室证据尚不完善——尤其是在资源有限的环境中。
在受控的实验室环境中测试了 13 种面罩设计的相对防护潜力。2021 年 3 月至 4 月，在中低收入国家的城市（巴西和尼日利亚）对社区和医护人员进行了调查，了解他们对面罩作为面部 PPE 的偏好和看法。调查参与者对面部 PPE 的优先事项与实验室产生的测试结果的影响进行了比较。
没有一种面罩能完全杜绝暴露。头部方向和设计特点影响防护水平。在巴西和尼日利亚有超过 600 人（包括 240 名医护人员）接受了采访。受访者评论了影响他们首选面部 PPE 的因素、他们如何倾向于清洁面罩以及他们在选择面罩产品时的优先事项。接受调查的医护人员通常会购买个人防护设备供工作使用。
所有面罩都提供了一定程度的保护，但没有一种能提供针对外部飞沫污染的高度保护。受访者希望面部 PPE 能考虑到良好的沟通、固定装置的稳固性、良好的可视性、舒适性、时尚性以及经证实的防护性。
