Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul Medipol University, Istanbul, Turkey
  • 2 Department of Urology, La Paz University Hospital, Instituto de Investigación, Madrid, Spain
  • 3 Department of Urology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
  • 4 Department of Urology, Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, Faculty of Medicine, University of Indonesia, Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 5 Department of Urology, Hospital Médica Sur, Mexico City, Mexico
  • 6 Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  • 7 Department of Urology, Vayodha Hospitals, Kathmandu, Nepal
  • 8 Urology Unit, Department of Surgery, Al-Amiri Hospital, Kuwait City, Kuwait
  • 9 Department of Urology, The Austin Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  • 10 Universidad Andrés Bello, Hospital del Trabajador, Santiago, Chile
  • 11 Division of Urology, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
  • 12 Kulkarni Reconstructive Urology Center, Pune, India
  • 13 Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
  • 14 Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, School of Health Sciences, University of Thessaly, Larissa, Greece
Int J Urol, 2020 11;27(11):981-989.
PMID: 32772434 DOI: 10.1111/iju.14340

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To determine the well-being of urologists worldwide during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and whether they have adequate personal protective equipment knowledge and supplies appropriate to their clinical setting.

METHODS: Urologists worldwide completed a Société Internationale d'Urologie online survey from 16 April 2020 until 1 May 2020. Analysis was carried out to evaluate their knowledge about protecting themselves and others in the workplace, including their confidence in their ability to remain safe at work, and any regional differences.

RESULTS: There were 3488 respondents from 109 countries. Urologists who stated they were moderately comfortable that their work environment offers good protection against coronavirus disease 2019 showed a total mean satisfaction level of 5.99 (on a "0 = not at all" to "10 = very" scale). A large majority (86.33%) were confident about protecting themselves from coronavirus disease 2019 at work. However, only about one-third reported their institution provided the required personal protective equipment (35.78%), and nearly half indicated their hospital has or had limited personal protective equipment availability (48.08%). Worldwide, a large majority of respondents answered affirmatively for testing the healthcare team (83.09%). Approximately half of the respondents (52.85%) across all regions indicated that all surgical team members face an equal risk of contracting coronavirus disease 2019 (52.85%). Nearly one-third of respondents reported that they had experienced social avoidance (28.97%).

CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that urologists lack up-to-date knowledge of preferred protocols for personal protective equipment selection and use, social distancing, and coronavirus disease 2019 testing. These data can provide insights into functional domains from which other specialties could also benefit.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.