Compliance With the COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines in Operating Room Staff: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran

Operating room staff provide specialized care to the patients. Their compliance with the COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines can reduce the risk of contracting the disease. The present study aims to assess the compliance of operating room staff with the COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines in Iran.

This is a descriptive analytical study with a cross-sectional design that was conducted on 876 operating room staff in 10 cities of Iran in 2021. Sampling was done using a multi-stage cluster method. In the first stage, 10 cities (clusters) were selected. Then, three hospitals accepting patients with COVID-19 in each city were selected by simple random sampling method (using lottery method). The data collection tools were a demographic form and a researcher-made questionnaire assessing the compliance with the COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines in the operating rooms, which were completed online by the participants. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 26 using descriptive (Mean±sd) and inferential (chi-square test) statistics.

The Mean±sd age of the participants was 28.5±5.4 years. The majority of them were female (82.3%) and single (52.6%). The mean score of compliance was 42.29±7.11; 6.5% had low compliance, 59.4% had moderate compliance, and 34.1% had high compliance with the guidelines. The highest level of compliance was in the dimension of personal protective equipment instructions and the lowest level was in the dimension of surgical type instructions. There was a significant correlation between participation in training courses and the level of compliance with the guidelines (P=0.002).

The compliance of the Iranian operating room staff with the COVID-19 infection prevention and control guidelines is at a moderate level. To increase their compliance, it is recommended that hospital managers provide standard protective equipment and hold training courses for improving their knowledge of guidelines.