Preference and User Experience with Powered Air- purifying Respirators in Healthcare Workers in a Simulated Work Environment: A Pilot Study

Powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs) are protective devices commonly utilized by healthcare workers in environments with infectious airborne diseases. A review of the current PAPR literature indicated a shortage of studies that focus on user experience of PAPRs and the types of PAPRs that healthcare workers prefer. This study focused on three different PAPR models: the MAXAIR CAPR RTM 710, the 3M(TM) Versaflo (TM) TR-600-ECK and the 3M(TM) Air-Mate(TM). A typical hospital patient work environment was simulated at the West Virginia Simulation Training and Education for Patient Safety on West Virginia University\u27s Health Sciences Campus. Eight subjects total were recruited and asked to perform various tasks in the simulated patient room while wearing the different respirators. Data was collected via a survey which compiled information on 16 different evaluation categories, vitals and preferences and acceptability of the different PAPRs under various risk and air flow conditions. Results yielded 5 statistically significant evaluation categories (p\u3c0.05) which were general comfort , overall breathing discomfort , clear line of vision , mechanical interference with duties and the number of hours a subject was willing to wear the PAPR . In these 5 categories, the MAXAIR typically performed the best and the Versaflo typically performed the worst. The results indicate a large gap between the MAXAIR and the Versaflo. The MAXAIR was perceived as generally more comfortable, less cumbersome and more effective than the Versaflo. This may indicate an issue in design in the Versaflo, which could be further analyzed with additional studies