Table 2.
Comparison of impact of PPE usage and related thermal stress, duration of usage, time taken for donning and doffing the PPE, whether or not PPE could be removed during breaks, availability of dedicated rest areas, and symptoms experienced due to heat stress (W = Wilcoxon rank-sum test statistics, χ2 = Pearson’s chi-square test statistics).
| Factors | India | Singapore |
|---|---|---|
| n = 110 | n = 55 | |
| Days/week in PPE | 6 (5–6) | 5 (4–5) *** |
| W = 3854, p < 0.01 | ||
| Hours/shift in PPE | 6 (5–8) | 8 (8–8.15) *** |
| W = 1516, p < 0.01 | ||
| Working in A/C | 27 (25%) | 34 (62%) *** |
| χ2(1) = 20.29, p < 0.01 | ||
| Dedicated rest area | 46 (42%) | 55 (100%) *** |
| χ2(1) = 53.91, p < 0.01 | ||
| Time taken to don PPE (minutes) | 7 (5–10) | 3 (2–5) *** |
| W = 4850.5, p < 0.01 | ||
| Remove PPE on breaks | 66 (60%) | 54 (98.2%) *** |
| χ2(1) = 25.06, p < 0.01 | ||
| Symptoms in PPE | ||
| Headache | 36 (33%) | 12 (22%) |
| χ2(1) = 1.62, p = 0.20 | ||
| Dizziness | 7 (6%) | 16 (29%) *** |
| χ2(1) = 13.95, p < 0.01 | ||
| Thirst | 98 (85%) | 46 (92%) |
| χ2(1) = 0.8973, p = 0.34 | ||
| Vomiting | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) |
| Excessive sweating | 95 (86%) | 50 (90%) |
| χ2(1) = 0.3485, p = 0.56 | ||
| Breathing difficulty | 27 (25%) | 7 (13%) |
| χ2(1) = 2.45, p = 0.12 | ||
| Dehydration | 27 (23%) | 3 (6%) ** |
| χ2(1) = 7.75, p < 0.01 | ||
| Exhaustion | 86 (78%) | 42 (76%) |
| χ2(1) = 0.452, p = 0.76 | ||
| Wanting to go comfort zone | 94 (86%) | 42 (76%) |
| χ2(1) = 1.51, p = 0.22 | ||
| Sick leave | 3 (3%) | 4 (8%) |
| Fisher’s exact: p = 0.22 |
** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001, when compared with India. Data expressed in n (%) for categorical variables and median (IQR) for continuous variables.