Qualitative fit test outcomes for N95 filtering facepiece respirators in health care workers

Richa Wardhan; Vrinda Patel; Andrew B Neff; R B Cook; Jeffrey D White; Terrie Vasilopoulos

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2022.05.022

Qualitative fit test outcomes for N95 filtering facepiece respirators in health care workers

Am J Infect Control. 2023 Feb;51(2):194-198. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.05.022. Epub 2022 Jun 1.

Authors

Richa Wardhan¹, Vrinda Patel², Andrew B Neff³, R B Cook³, Jeffrey D White³, Terrie Vasilopoulos⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL. Electronic address: rwardhan@anest.ufl.edu.
² University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
³ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL; Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.

PMID: 35659562
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.05.022

Abstract

Background: We analyzed the qualitative fit test results of the filtering facepiece respirators (FFRs) used at our institution to determine their performance and utility.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 12,582 qualitative fit testing results for several FFR models among 8,809 health care workers (HCWs).

Results: The overall failure rate for HCWs was 15.2%. Nearly one-third (2933/8809, 33.3%) had multiple FFRs fit tested. HCW sex was a statistically significant indicator of fit testing failure (χ² = 29.9, df = 1, P < .001), with women having a 44% higher likelihood (OR, 1.4; 95% CI: 1.27-1.65) than men. There were statistically significant differences in the failure rate across FFRs (Fig 4, F[5, 12475] = 8.4, P < .001). Fluidshield 46867S had a significantly higher failure rate (49%) than the 3M 1860 (P = .012), 3M 1860S (P < .001), 3M 8210 (P < .001), and Safelife (P < .001) FFRs.

Conclusions: There was a large degree of variation in fit testing results for the FFRs tested. Although we were unable to find an FFR that fit more than 95% of the HCWs successfully, we identified poorly functioning FFRs that can help our institution with decision-making and budgeting for acquisition and stocking appropriate FFRs.

Keywords: COVID-19; Health personnel; Masks; N95 respirators; Occupational health.

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Male
N95 Respirators
Occupational Exposure*
Respiratory Protective Devices*
Retrospective Studies
Ventilators, Mechanical