Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2024 Jan;45(1):89-95. doi: 10.1017/ice.2023.141. Epub 2023 Jul 12.
To undertake a healthcare-based multimodal evaluation of the combination of filtering facepiece respirator (FFR) with the elastic-band beard cover technique, including quantitative fit test (QNFT) results, skills assessment, and usability assessment.
We conducted a prospective study through the Respiratory Protection Program at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from May 2022 to January 2023.
Healthcare workers who required respiratory protection and could not shave for religious, cultural, or medical reasons.
Online education and personal face-to-face training on the use of FFR with the elastic-band beard cover technique.
Among 87 participants (median beard length 38 mm; interquartile range [IQR], 20-80), 86 (99%) passed 3 QNFTs consecutively with the elastic-band beard cover under a Trident P2 respirator and 68 (78%) passed 3 QNFTs consecutively with a 3M 1870+ Aura respirator. The first QNFT pass rate and the overall fit factors were significantly higher when using the technique than without the elastic-band beard cover. Most participants displayed a high skill level in their donning, doffing, and user seal-check techniques. Of 87 participants, 83 (95%) completed the usability assessment. The overall ease of use, comfort, and overall assessment were rated highly.
The elastic-band beard cover technique can provide safe and effective respiratory protection for bearded healthcare workers. The technique was easily taught, comfortable, well tolerated and accepted by healthcare workers, potentially allowing them full participation in the workforce during pandemics with airborne transmission. We recommend further research and evaluation of this technique in a broader health workforce.
对过滤式面罩（FFR）与弹性带胡须罩技术相结合进行基于医疗保健的多模式评估，包括定量拟合测试（QNFT）结果、技能评估和可用性评估。
我们于 2022 年 5 月至 2023 年 1 月在墨尔本皇家医院的呼吸保护计划中进行了一项前瞻性研究。
因宗教、文化或医疗原因需要呼吸保护但不能刮胡子的医护人员。
在线教育和个人面对面培训使用 FFR 与弹性带胡须罩技术。
在 87 名参与者中（中位胡须长度 38mm；四分位间距 [IQR]，20-80），86 名（99%）连续 3 次使用弹性带胡须罩通过 Trident P2 呼吸器的 QNFT，68 名（78%）连续 3 次通过 3M 1870+Aura 呼吸器的 QNFT。使用该技术时，第一次 QNFT 通过率和整体拟合因子显著高于不使用弹性带胡须罩的情况。大多数参与者在佩戴、脱下和用户密封检查技术方面都表现出较高的技能水平。在 87 名参与者中，83 名（95%）完成了可用性评估。整体易用性、舒适性和总体评估得到了高度评价。
弹性带胡须罩技术可为胡须医护人员提供安全有效的呼吸保护。该技术易于教授，佩戴舒适，医护人员耐受性和接受度良好，在具有空气传播的大流行期间，有可能使他们全面参与劳动力。我们建议在更广泛的卫生劳动力中进一步研究和评估该技术。
