A total of 170 GPs received the swabbing booth and the survey link. 54% of the GPs responded (n=93), of whom 91% (n=85) completed the entire survey. The number of respondents answering each question is indicated in the tables.
Characteristics of the respondents and their practices
As seen in Table 2, the GPs spanned a wide age range and majority (75%) practiced in public residential estates in small practices (mean=1.95 doctors).
Table 2. Characteristics of respondents (n=93)
|
%
|
n
|
Mean
|
SD
|
Age
|
|
|
|
|
30-39
|
25%
|
23
|
-
|
-
|
40-49
|
30%
|
28
|
-
|
-
|
50-59
|
38%
|
35
|
-
|
-
|
60-69
|
6%
|
6
|
-
|
-
|
70 and above
|
1%
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
|
-
|
-
|
Type of practice
|
|
|
-
|
-
|
Solo clinic
|
48%
|
45
|
-
|
-
|
Group of 2-9 clinics
|
33%
|
31
|
-
|
-
|
Group of 10 or more clinics
|
18%
|
17
|
-
|
-
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of doctors in clinic
|
-
|
-
|
1.95
|
1.20
|
|
|
|
|
|
Number of clinic support staff
|
-
|
-
|
4.52
|
2.68
|
|
|
|
|
|
Location of GP clinic
|
|
|
|
|
public residential estate
|
75%
|
70
|
-
|
-
|
shopping mall
|
14%
|
13
|
-
|
-
|
private residential estate
|
5%
|
4
|
-
|
-
|
office building
|
5%
|
5
|
-
|
-
|
industrial estate
|
1%
|
1
|
-
|
-
|
Primary findings on user experience: reasons for booth application and booth satisfaction
The primary findings are summarised in Table 3. The top 3 reasons for applying for the booth were: to increase swabber protection (86%), ease of disinfection (65%) and provided for free (55%).
We assessed overall satisfaction by whether the GPs were still using the booth at the time of the survey and whether they would recommend it to other GPs. We also assessed satisfaction towards individual attributes of the booth, with questions on likes, dislikes and ergonomics.
Table 3. Primary findings on user experience
Reasons for applying for booth (multiple selections accepted)
|
|
(n=92) #
|
I felt it would be safer for the swabber
|
86%
|
79
|
I felt it would make the disinfection process easier
|
65%
|
60
|
It was provided free of charge
|
55%
|
51
|
I did not have the necessary equipment to conduct a swab test (e.g. table, privacy screen)
|
32%
|
29
|
I felt it would provide privacy for the patients
|
30%
|
28
|
Other (reduced patient anxiety, save time without having to wear full PPE, wanted designated work area for swabbing outside clinic)
|
4%
|
4
|
|
|
|
Are you currently using the booth to conduct swab tests?
|
|
(n=87) #
|
Yes
|
79%
|
68
|
No, I swab without the booth now
|
19%
|
16
|
No, I have stopped conducting swab tests in my clinic
|
2%
|
2
|
|
|
|
How likely are you to recommend the booth to another colleague?
|
|
(n=85) #
|
Will strongly recommend
|
40%
|
34
|
Will recommend
|
34%
|
29
|
Neutral
|
18%
|
15
|
Will not recommend
|
7%
|
6
|
Strongly will not recommend
|
1%
|
1
|
|
|
|
What do you like about the booth? (multiple selections accepted)
|
|
(n=87) #
|
It provides protection to the swabber
|
92%
|
80
|
It creates a separate space for swabbing
|
71%
|
62
|
It makes the disinfection process easier and quicker
|
64%
|
56
|
It is easy to move around
|
51%
|
44
|
It is easy to conduct swab tests using the booth
|
47%
|
41
|
It provides privacy to the patient
|
41%
|
36
|
Others:
|
2%
|
2
|
|
|
|
What do you not like about the booth? (multiple selections accepted)
|
|
(n=86) #
|
Others (e.g. gloves, glove port height)
|
44%
|
38
|
Takes up too much space
|
34%
|
29
|
Difficult to conduct swab tests using the booth
|
31%
|
27
|
Difficult to disinfect
|
16%
|
14
|
Troublesome to set up and store
|
16%
|
14
|
Inadequate patient privacy
|
14%
|
12
|
Inadequate swabber protection
|
1%
|
1
|
|
|
|
Were you swabbing patients prior to receiving the booth?
|
|
(n=92) #
|
Yes
|
53%
|
49
|
No
|
47%
|
43
|
|
|
|
How important was getting the booth in your decision to participate in Swab-and-Send-Home (SASH)?
|
|
(n=92) #
|
Very important
|
35%
|
32
|
Important
|
23%
|
21
|
Somewhat important
|
25%
|
23
|
Not important
|
17%
|
16
|
# = number of respondents who answered this question.
Exploratory analyses of factors associated with user experience
In addition, we performed exploratory analyses (see Table 4) to investigate factors associated with continued use of the booth, ergonomics evaluations, and importance of the booth to participating in swab testing. To explore the effect of age on user experience, we also compared responses of users under 50 years old with those 50 years and above.
Table 4. Exploratory analyses of factors associated with user experience
Likes and dislikes correlated with continued booth use
|
|
Currently swabbing with booth (n=68)
|
Currently swabbing without booth (n=16)
|
p-value
(Pearson’s c2 test)
|
Likes:
|
|
|
|
- It creates a separate space for swabbing
|
78% (53)
|
44% (7)
|
0.006#
|
- It is easy to move around
|
56% (38)
|
25% (4)
|
0.026
|
- It is easy to conduct swab tests using the booth
|
59% (40)
|
0% (0)
|
<0.001
|
- It provides protection for the swabber
|
96% (65)
|
81% (13)
|
0.045#
|
- It provides privacy to the patient
|
49% (33)
|
19% (3)
|
0.030
|
- It makes the disinfection process easier and quicker
|
69% (47)
|
44% (7)
|
0.057#
|
Dislikes:
|
|
|
|
- It takes up too much space
|
26% (18)
|
63% (10)
|
0.006#
|
- Difficult to conduct swab tests using the booth
|
19% (13)
|
88% (14)
|
<0.001
|
|
15% (10)
|
25% (4)
|
0.320
|
- Troublesome to set up and store
|
10% (7)
|
44% (7)
|
0.001#
|
- Inadequate patient privacy
|
10% (7)
|
25% (4)
|
0.117
|
- Inadequate swabber protection
|
0% (0)
|
6% (1)
|
0.038#
|
Commented on gloves
|
32% (22)
|
25% (4)
|
0.567
|
Commented on glove ports
|
13% (9)
|
25% (4)
|
0.242
|
# some cells have expected count less than 5
Results in bold are statistically significant
|
Comparison of users <50 years old and ≥50 years old
|
|
<50 years old (n=50)
|
≥50 years old (n=42)
|
Pearson’s c2/t
(p-value)
|
Currently using the booth
|
72% (36)
|
76% (32)
|
c2= 1.313 (p=0.252)
|
Not swabbing prior to receiving booth
|
36% (18)
|
60% (25)
|
c2= 5.074 (p=0.024)
|
Total number of likes
|
Mean = 3.45, SD = 1.74
|
Mean = 4.13, SD = 1.34
|
t= 2.048 (p=0.044)
|
Total number of dislikes
|
Mean = 1.47, SD=1.25
|
Mean = 1.74, SD=1.33
|
t= 0.988 (p=0.326)
|
How important was getting the booth to your decision to participate in SASH? (1=not important; 4=very important)
|
Mean = 2.64, SD=1.17
|
Mean = 2.88, SD=1.04
|
t= 1.032 (p=0.305)
|
How likely are you to recommend the booth? (1=will strongly recommend; 5=strongly will not recommend)
|
Mean = 2.04, SD=1.07
|
Mean = 1.85, SD=0.88
|
t= -0.918 (p=0.361)
|
79% continued using the booth to conduct COVID swabs at the time of filling out the survey. 74% of the respondents said that they “would recommend” or “would strongly recommend” the booth to colleagues.
Top three features of the booth which the GPs liked were swabber protection (92%), creation of a separate space for swabbing (71%) and ease of disinfection (64%). We compared those who continued to use the booth to swab and those who were swabbing without the booth (see Table 4). Those who continued to use the booth were more likely to indicate their appreciation for the ease of moving the booth around (56% vs 25%, p=0.026), ease of swabbing (59% vs 0%, p<0.001) and the patient privacy it provided (49% vs 19%, p=0.030). They were less likely to indicate a dislike related to conducting a swabbing test in the booth (19% vs 88%, p<0.001).
Top dislikes were that it took up too much space (34%), difficulty in swabbing (31%) and difficulty in disinfecting (16%).
Ergonomics was rated as either poor, adequate or excellent. 56% of the GPs rated the ergonomics of the booth as adequate, 23% excellent and 21% poor. Poorer ratings were correlated with GPs’ heights falling outside the range of 160-180cm (p=0.033) and the user making free-text comments on the glove ports (p=0.010), but not about the gloves (p=0.630, all Pearson chi-square). Poorer ratings on ergonomics were correlated with selecting the dislike of difficulty in swabbing (p=0.001, Pearson chi-square) and number of total dislikes (p<0.001).
47% of the GPs were not swabbing prior to receiving the booth. 58% of the GPs said the booth was “important” or “very important” to their decision to participate in the SASH programme.
Rating of importance to participation in SASH was correlated with the reason for applying for the booth because the GP did not have the necessary equipment (Pearson correlation p=0.002). It was also correlated with liking the swabber protection (p=0.005), ease of disinfection (p=0.004), ease of conducting swab tests (p<0.001), mobility of the booth (p=0.002) and patient privacy (p=0.034).
A significantly higher proportion of GPs 50 years and above (60%) were not swabbing before receiving the booth, compared to the younger GPs (36%) (Pearson chi-square p=0.024). Respondents over 50 years tended to indicate more likes than those below 50 (Total number of likes was 4.13 vs 3.45, 2-tailed significance p=0.050).
Patterns of use
52% of GPs swabbed outdoors or semi-outdoors. 85% of GPs swabbed ≤5 patients a day and 96% of the swabs were done by doctors. Swabbers wore N95 masks (94%), isolation gowns (97%), gloves (96%) and eye protection gear (75%) and 56% changed items of PPE after every swab. Booths were disinfected by clinic assistants (76%) and most often with alcohol (75%). 74% reported that the booth required only 1 person to move it around.
Users’ free text comments on booth design
55% of the GPs made free text comments on the booth (see Table 5). Main critiques were on the gloves, height of glove ports and the bulkiness of the booth.
7 respondents expressed appreciation for the booth. One memorable compliment was from an elderly GP:
“I am very grateful for the booth, without which I would not have started doing the swab. The peace of mind it gives me is tremendous, as I am already 67 and have co morbidity as well. Hence the swab booth gives me the opportunity to help in the fight against Covid. Thank you again.”
Table 5. Themes in free text comments on the booth
Theme
|
Sub-theme
|
Examples
|
Gloves (35)
|
Prefer to swab without long gloves (9)
|
“I cut off the hands of the gloves as it was time consuming and difficult to use with the gloves”
|
Wrong size (7)
|
“supplied gloves too small. Not used as a result.”
|
Not touch-sensitive enough (6)
|
“glooves [sic] thick and lac [sic] ‘feel’”, “hand gloves are too stiff”
|
Generally hard to use (6)
|
“The full length rubber glove that came with booth hard to use”
|
Tear easily (5)
|
“Some difficulty applying gloves onto the booth - the gloves tear easily”
|
Hard to insert/remove hands (4)
|
“the gloves are too rigid, VERY hard to even get my hands in, granted that I have big hands, size 8
|
Slippery (3)
|
“The gloves are slippery and makes handling poor.”
|
Hard to change gloves (1)
|
“Gloves that can be easily fitted and changed”
|
Accommodating different-sized users (22)
|
Height & restrictiveness of glove port (16)
|
“Booth is not user friendly as there is a restriction in terms of height due to the fixed location of the hand glove position. it restricts the height of both the swabber and patients”
|
Could not swab sitting/wheelchair patients (6)
|
“it is not wheelchair or elderly friendly.”
|
Cubicle too small or short (2)
|
“however, the top of the booth is too low for Caucasian patients”
“For a ladies [sic] frame it's a good fit but not for the larger built guys”
|
Dimensions (19)
|
Too bulky/wanted foldable (10)
|
“Try to design a foldable one.”
“no need to be so bulky and tall”
|
Patient cubicle dimensions (3)
|
“Too far for patient. Patient can move away during swab.”
|
Too heavy (3)
|
“heavy to push in and out of the clinic after every session”
|
Miscellaneous (19)
|
Want it more enclosed (6)
|
“There is no "door" to total close patient in so to ensure the aerosol particles are contain within the booth…”
|
Enhance places to put things (5)
|
“Put a ledge on patients’ side so the things less likely to drop”
“compartments to put disinfectants and swabbing materal [sic]”
|
Others (8) – 2 or fewer comments per theme
|
“Difficult for patient to hear me while swabbing - I bought a mic and speaker set to overcome this”
|