Impact of long-term care facilities’ size on adherence to COVID-19’ infection prevention guidance
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1590/1518-8345.5581.3557Keywords:
Aged; COVID-19; Guideline Adherence; Long-Term Care; Coronavirus; Homes for the Aged.Abstract
Objective: to evaluate the adherence of Brazilian long-term care
facilities to the World Health Organization Infection Prevention and
Control guidance, and assess the association of their size with the
adherence to these recommendations. Method: cross-sectional study
conducted with facilities’ managers. Authors developed a 20-item
questionnaire based on this guidance, and a global score of adherence,
based on the adoption of these recommendations. Adherence was
classified as (1) excellent for those who attended ≥14 out of 20
recommendations; (2) good for 10 to 13 items; and (3) low for
those with less than ten items. Facilities’ sizes were established
as small, intermediate, and large according to a two-step cluster
analysis. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used at a
5% significance level. Results: among 362 included facilities, 308
(85.1%) adhered to 14 or more recommendations. Regarding its size,
adherence to screening COVID-19 symptoms of visitors (p=0.037)
and isolating patients until they have had two negative laboratory
tests (p=0.032) were lower on larger ones compared to medium
and small facilities. Conclusion: adherence to COVID-19 mitigation
measures in Brazilian facilities was considered excellent for most of
the recommendations, regardless of the size of the units.
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