Monitoring skin health of clinical staff wearing PPE during COVID-19
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Monitoring skin health of clinical staff wearing PPE during COVID-19 pandemic
IRAS ID
285764
Contact name
Nkemjika Abiakam
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Southampton
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
57311, University of Southampton ERGO Ethic committee
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
The project focuses on evaluating the health of facial skin and assessing measures which could indicate early signs of skin damage. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic clinical staff have had to use Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for prolonged periods. As a consequence, many have reported damage to the skin from wearing these devices. In particular, the prolonged use of respirator protective equipment (RPE) has been associated with facial indentation marks and erythema (redness), events that if not attended to could possibly lead to skin breakdown. This study aims to better understand how the skin changes before and after using RPE in order to create methods of detecting skin damage before wounds form. This will be achieved using non-invasive measures of skin health including physical sensors and sampling fluids from the skin surface before and after the application of RPE. Measures will be fast and non-invasive to minimise the burden on participation.
REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
20/NI/0105
Date of REC Opinion
25 Aug 2020
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion