Title

Difficulties faced by healthcare workers in PPE use during covid-19 pandemic: A mixed-method study from a tertiary hospital in India

Authors

Aishwarya Vijay Kamble*^,1, Sakeyt Changdeo Khobragade² & Vasudha Belgaumkar³

Affiliation

¹Department of Respiratory Medicine, House Officer Respiratory Medicine King Edward Memorial Hospital Mumbai, India; ²Department of Orthopaedic, King Edward Memorial Hospital Mumbai, India; ³Department of Dermatology, B.J. Government Medical College, Pune; *Corresponding author

Email

Aishwarya Vijay Kamble - E-mail: dr.rameek143@gmail.com
Sakeyt Changdeo Khobragade - E-mail: drsakeytck@gmail.com
Vasudha Belgaumkar - E-mail: doc_vasudha@yahoo.co.in

Article Type

Research Article

Date

Received November 15, 2025; Revised December 15, 2025; Accepted December 15, 2025, Published December 15, 2025

Abstract

A mixed-method cross-sectional study at Sassoon General Hospital, Pune, assessed PPE-related challenges among 257 HCWs between August and December 2021. Nearly all HCWs (99.2%) reported discomfort, primarily excessive sweating (95.3%), headaches (60.3%), communication barriers (56.8%) and feelings of suffocation (52.1%). Over half experienced improper sizing and dermatological issues, while 32.7% struggled with donning and doffing despite prior training. Almost half (48.7%) admitted breaking PPE protocol due to discomfort and 31.5% tested positive for COVID-19 while on duty. Thematic analysis highlighted ergonomic inadequacies, prolonged wear, harsh environmental conditions and psychological burden, underscoring the urgent need for climate-appropriate, user-friendly PPE and strong institutional support.

Keywords

Protocol breach, professional burnout, dermatological issues, donning and doffing, ergonomic design, pandemic preparedness, occupational health and safety, awareness. Healthcare workers, covid-19 outbreak, personal protective equipment (PPE)

Citation

Kamble et al. Bioinformation 21(12): 4338-4343 (2025)

Edited by

Neelam Goyal & Shruti Dabi

ISSN

0973-2063

Publisher

Biomedical Informatics

License

This is an Open Access article which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. This is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.