Impact of personal protective equipment on psychological and physical health during menstruation: A cross-Sectional study among female frontline healthcare workers during COVID pandemic

INTRODUCTION: During the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, personal protective equipment (PPE) has undoubtedly provided a shield of protection for the healthcare workers fighting the disease. However, the layers of the PPE kit restrict basic human activities and also have been associated with various other problems like dehydration, suffocation, breathlessness, headache, and dermatitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was done among 180 Female health workers who wore the PPE kit during COVID-19 duty in a tertiary health care center during the period March 2021 to May 2021. The content-validated survey tool developed by Google Forms used as a platform was sent to 180 Female health workers of COVID-19 hospitals to minimize face-to-face or physical interaction. The Work-Related Quality of Life Scale (WRQoL) was used. RESULTS: The majority of the participants were interns (48.9%) and belonged to the age group of 21 to 25 years (67.7%). The approximate duration of wearing a PPE kit was 6 to 12 h for almost half of the study participants. Sanitary pads were used by over 90% of the participants. Only 59 out of 180 (32.7%) were provided with an extra PPE kit during menstruation. About 131 (72.7%) Female Health workers (FHWs) (FHWs) had to remove the PPE kit due to excessive sweat during menstruation; 110 FHW’s out of 180 (61.1%) who participated in the study had to remove the PPE kit due to severe thirst and dehydration. Sweating (91%), dehydration (86.7%), rashes (49.9%), extreme thirst (56.5%), abdominal cramps (53.3%), and headache (59.8%) were the major complaints of the participants. The majority of the participants had low quality of life scores based on WRQoL. CONCLUSIONS: Use of PPE for long hours especially during menstruation can affect one both physically and psychologically compromising the work performance and decision-making. Minor changes in the work place environment can drastically improve the work-related quality of life.