P0425 - Comparison of Provider Fear Levels During Primary and Subsequent Intubations and Primary and Subsequent Endoscopies of COVID-19 Patients: Results From Two US National Surveys

Reem Q. Al Shabeeb, MD¹, Esther Lee, BS², Muhammad El Shatanofy, BS³, Erika Pashai, MD³, Ivy Benjenk, PhD³, Marian Sherman, MD³, Eric Heinz, MD, PhD³, David Yamane, MD³, Marie L. Borum, MD, EdD, MPH^3
1Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA; ²Western University of Health Sciences, Pomona, CA; ³George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Washington, DC

Introduction: Intubations and endoscopies are aerosolizing procedures that increase the risk COVID-19 transmission. While providers have attempted to limit the spread of the virus by postponing elective cases and wearing adequate PPE during emergent procedures, a lot of uncertainty remains about the factors affecting providers’ fear during these procedures. The purpose of this study was to compare fear levels among providers performing intubations and gastroenterologists performing upper and lower endoscopies during the pandemic.

Methods: In this IRB-approved multi-center cross-sectional study, we used a snowball sampling approach to disseminate two surveys, pilot-tested for reliability and validity, to two separate cohorts. The first cohort was sent a 24-question survey on fear levels during primary and subsequent intubations of COVID-19 suspected patients. The second cohort was sent a 42-question survey on fear levels during primary and subsequent endoscopies of COVID-19 suspected patients. Both surveys included questions about the provider’s age, years of practice, procedure experience and procedure comfort using a Likert 1-10 scale. Data was analyzed using Pearson’s chi-squared, Mann-Whitney U, and Wilcoxon rank tests. Statistical significance was denoted at p< 0.05.

Results: We analyzed 186 responses from providers at 32 hospitals in the first survey on intubations and 69 responses from gastroenterologists at 30 hospitals in the second survey on endoscopies. Fear among intubators differed based on age (25-35y had higher fear than age >36; p=0.048), years of practice ( >16 years had greater comfort than those with 0-5 years; p< 0.0005) and number of procedures (providers who performed >20 intubations had greater comfort than those with 1-5 COVID-19 intubations; p=0.015).The COVID-19 procedure fear levels did not significantly differ between gastroenterologists based upon age (p=0.975), years of practice (p=0.383) and number of procedures (p=0.980).

Discussion: This study suggests that provider fear levels differ by age, years in practice, and number of COVID-19 procedures for physicians performing intubations but not endoscopies. While intubations and endoscopies are both aerosolizing procedures, it is possible that the perceived risk and unpredictability of intubations created a stronger stratification among intubating providers with different levels of experience and safety concerns. This finding is important as we continue to learn about physicians' personal risk assessment.


Disclosures:


Reem Q. Al Shabeeb, MD¹, Esther Lee, BS², Muhammad El Shatanofy, BS³, Erika Pashai, MD³, Ivy Benjenk, PhD³, Marian Sherman, MD³, Eric Heinz, MD, PhD³, David Yamane, MD³, Marie L. Borum, MD, EdD, MPH³. P0425 - Comparison of Provider Fear Levels During Primary and Subsequent Intubations and Primary and Subsequent Endoscopies of COVID-19 Patients: Results From Two US National Surveys, ACG 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Las Vegas, Nevada: American College of Gastroenterology.