• Karina Yu, Alan G Micco, Elisabeth Ference, Joshua M Levy, and Stephanie Shintani Smith.
• Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, 676 N. St. Clair St., Suite 1325, Chicago, IL 60611, United States of America. Electronic address: karina.yu@northwestern.edu.
• Am J Otolaryngol. 2020 Nov 1; 41 (6): 102735.

ObjectiveDescribe current practices and challenges in personal protective equipment (PPE) use among US otolaryngologists during the COVID-19 pandemic.Study DesignOnline survey.SettingAcademic and non-academic healthcare institutions.Subjects And MethodsSubjects included US otolaryngology physicians. Emails were sent on April 17, 2020 to program coordinators at 121 residency programs, who were requested to forward the email to program directors for distribution. Further recruitment occurred through snowball recruitment. The survey was closed on June 15, 2020.ResultsSixty-one participants completed the survey. 95.1% reported routine access to full PPE (N95 ± powered air purifying respirator [PAPR], gown, gloves, eye protection) for aerosol-generating procedures (AGPs) in COVID-19 patients, while 68.9% had routine access to full PPE for AGPs in patients without confirmed COVID-19. 88.5% had routine access to full PPE for potential aerosol-generating procedures (pAGPs) in COVID patients, while 80.3% had routine access to full PPE for pAGPs in patients without confirmed COVID. All participants felt that they "always" or "usually" had necessary PPE to safely perform procedures and surgeries on COVID patients. 83.6% received N95 fitting in the past year, and 93.4% reported adequate PPE training.ConclusionThe majority of participants reported routine access to full PPE for AGPs and pAGPs in all patients, regardless of COVID status. There was a high perception of security, as well as adequate N95 fitting and PPE training. Areas for improvement include: optimizing PPE availability for AGPs in patients without confirmed COVID and wider recognition of otolaryngologic procedures as high risk for aerosolization.Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.

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