Prevalence and acceptance of glove wearing practice among general population when visiting high risk are during local COVID-19 outbreak

Abstract Background Healthcare authorities have generally advised against wearing glove by the general population. However, the use of gloves has become a common sight in public places raising the question of the necessity of glove wearing practice by the general population Objective This study aims to investigate the prevalence and types of glove used as well as the acceptance of the glove practice by individuals visiting the high-risk area during Covid-19 pandemic. Setting This prospective observational study was conducted among individuals visiting a wet market and district specialist hospital During Covid-19 pandemic. The required data was recorded based on observation by trained data collectors who were stationed at the strategic entry point. Methods Individuals entering through dedicated entry point were observed for the type, category and practice of wearing personal protective equipment. Inclusion criteria for this study were any individuals entering the facilities from entry points without respiratory symptoms. Exclusion criteria for this study were individuals less than 2 years old, visiting the emergency department, facility staff, individuals who are suspected of multiple entry and individuals who are exiting the treatment facility entrance. Patients were categorized into two groups of acceptable and unacceptable glove practice. The Pearson chi-square was used to test for differences in investigated variables in the univariate setting. Main outcome measure Prevalence, acceptance of glove wearing practice. Results A total of 75 individuals (2.3%) compromising of 45 (60.0%) individuals from hospitals and 30 (40.0%) individuals from wet markets were seen wearing glove amongst 3322 individuals observed during the data collection period. A higher proportion of individuals visiting wet market (30.0%) were observed with unacceptable glove practice compared to individuals visiting the hospital (8.9%), χ 2 (1) = 5.60, p = .018. Similarly, a Higher proportion of glove use among non-Malay (53.3%) compared to Malay (46.7%) was observed in hospital compared to a higher proportion of glove use among Malay compared to non-Malay (16.7%) visiting wet market, χ 2 (1) = 10.20, p = .001. As for glove use, we found that male were using more medical-grade glove (78.8%) compared to non-medical grade glove (21.2%) while an equal amount of medical (50.0%) and non-medical grade glove (50.0%) was used among female, χ 2 (1) = 6.546, p = .011. Besides, we found that higher proportion of individual using medical-grade glove was using medical grade facemask (68.3%) which was similar to the proportion of individuals using non-medical glove was using non-medical facemask (66.7%), χ 2 (1) = 5.25, p = .022. Conclusion We present the prevalence and characteristics of glove wearing practice in high-risk location during the current COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia. Facing a worldwide public health emergency with limited effective clinical treatment, the role of glove-wearing in mitigating COVID-19 transmission is questionable. If needed, the compliance to proper glove-wearing could be improved through targeted public health education