Table 3.
Self-contamination of Scrubs and Skin During a Trial of Personal Protective Equipment Doffing
| Median (Interquartile Range) | P Valuea | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Self-contamination Type and Location | Intervention (n = 13) | Control (n = 11) | |
| Count of contaminated sites (combination of fluorescent tracer and PLS sites contaminated)b | 6 (3–8) | 11 (6–13) | .002 |
| Fluorescent tracer surface contamination | |||
| Number of contaminated sites | 1 (1–2) | 5 (2–5) | .003 |
| Sum of contamination scoresc | 2 (1–5) | 13 (9–141) | .004 |
| Head | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Neck | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .277 |
| Right shoulder | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Left shoulder | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .116 |
| Mid-torso front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–1) | .049 |
| Mid-torso back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Waist front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .450 |
| Waist back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Right arm (including elbows) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–2) | .020 |
| Left arm (including elbows) | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Wrists front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | … |
| Wrists back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .277 |
| Hands front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .116 |
| Hands back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .277 |
| Thighs front | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–2) | .728 |
| Thighs back | 0 (0–0) | 3 (0–10) | .008 |
| Knees front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–1) | .253 |
| Knees back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–10) | .094 |
| Lower leg front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–4) | .348 |
| Lower leg back | 0 (0–0) | 3 (0–9) | .035 |
| Ankles front | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–1) | .085 |
| Ankles back | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–0) | .904 |
| PLS surface contamination | |||
| Number of contaminated sites | 4 (2–5) | 5 (5–8) | .020 |
| Sum of contamination scores (number of PLS by microscopy) | 72.4 (36.2–96.5) | 144.8 (108.6–241.3) | .001 |
| Forehead | 0 (0–12.1) | 0 (0–12.1) | .835 |
| Left ear | 0 (0–12.1) | 0 (0–24.1) | .472 |
| Right ear | 0 (0–12.1) | 0 (0–24.1) | .578 |
| Chin | 0 (0–0) | 0 (0–24.1) | .027 |
| Left cheek | 0 (0–12.1) | 0 (0–12.1) | .808 |
| Right cheek | 0 (0–12.1) | 0 (0–12.1) | .834 |
| Left inner wrist | 12.1 (0–24.1) | 12.1 (0–12.1) | .927 |
| Right inner wrist | 12.1 (0–12.1) | 12.1 (0–36.2) | .261 |
| Left back of hand | 0 (0–0) | 24.1 (12.1–36.2) | <.001 |
| Right back of hand | 0 (0–12.1) | 12.1 (0–24.1) | .115 |
| Left forefinger to thumb | 0 (0–0) | 12.1 (0–12.1) | .201 |
| Right forefinger to thumb | 0 (0–0) | 12.1 (0–48.3) | .025 |
| Estimated airborne concentration of PLS (number per cubic centimeter) | 68.2 (17.4–329.8) | 63.8 (0–168.9) | .599 |
The bold text indicates P values that are statistically significant at a value of P < .05.
Abbreviations: PLS, polystyrene latex sphere.
aFrom Wilcoxon rank sum tests.
bFluorescent tracer contamination of head and hands is not included in the summary metric to avoid double counting with the PLS surface contamination.
cContamination score is derived from the contamination categorized into dot, smear, and spray. One dot is 1 point; smear is scored as the maximum dots in a body area; and spray is scored as the maximum score of smear in a body area.