Paper Title
PHYSICAL HEALTH PROBLEMS AMONG HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN BANGLADESH: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY
Subhra Rani Das, Md Golam Kibria, Md Idris Ali, ABM Alauddin Chowdhury
The COVID-19 pandemic has placed healthcare professionals (HCPs) worldwide in an unprecedented anddemanding role as frontliners in the battle against the virus. In the context of Bangladesh, this studyexplored the physical health problems and some related sociodemographic, familial, and social factorsencountered by HCPs during the pandemic. This cross-sectional research took place in Dhaka City,Bangladesh, from June 2021 to February 2022. Various HCPs were chosen from a total of 10 governmentand 2 non-government hospitals dedicated to treating COVID-19 patients, utilizing a simple randomsampling approach. Total 483 responses were collected. Information was gathered by conducting face-to-face interviews with the use of semi-structured questionnaires. The data collected underwent analysisemploying both descriptive and inferential statistics. SPSS version 22.0 was used for conducting dataanalysis. The study found significant sociodemographic, habitual, organizational, and familyfactors associated with the respondents’ COVID-19 status at a 5% level of significance and a p-value lessthan 0.05. Post COVID-19 complications were seen among 28.6%, the group that was found COVID-19positive among the respondents. Personal protective equipment (PPE)-related issues and issues related tolong shifts included over sweating (88.20%), discomfort (84.90%), headache (82.40%), backpain(69.20%), and dehydration (73.90%). Improving working conditions and giving support to HCPs arerequired to ensure their physical safety and security.
Physical Health Problems, Healthcare Professionals, Factors, COVID-19, Pandemic, Bangladesh