Incidence, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice Toward Needle Stick Injury Among Health Care Workers in Abha City, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

BackgroundA needle stick injury is a serious occupational health hazard in health care settings. Health care workers are at risk of bloodborne diseases and the psychological consequences of these injuries. This study aims to estimate the incidence of needle stick injuries among healthcare workers during the previous 12 months and to assess their knowledge, attitude, and practice toward these injuries.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted from 1st August 2019 till 15th February 2020, and included 786 healthcare workers in Abha city, Saudi Arabia. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data.ResultsThe incidence of needle stick injury among healthcare workers during the previous 12 months was (91/786) 11.57%. Nurses, females, and Saudis reported most needle stick injuries. More than half (52.7%) of the injuries went unreported. About 52.7% of needle stick injuries occurred during using sharp devices, and 42.9% of injuries happened in the patient room. The incidence of needle stick injury was significantly higher among those working at the secondary healthcare level (p = 0.003) and those practicing surgery (p < 0.001). Out of 786 participants, 94.7% knew the definition of needle stick injury, and 81.0% were aware of the procedure and guidelines to follow on sustaining a needle stick injury. Only 61.2% recognized that the recap of the needle is not recommended. Almost half of the participants (47.1%) agreed, and 33.6% strongly agreed that needle stick injury is preventable. A majority of healthcare workers (89.1%) had been vaccinated against Hepatitis B. Nearly 27.5% of healthcare workers incorrectly practiced recapping the needles with two hands and 8.7% bent needles before disposal. Recapping the needles was statistically significantly higher among healthcare workers who had a history of needle stick injury (p = 0. 046).ConclusionNeedle stick injury and its under reporting among healthcare professionals is still a prevalent risk. Raising awareness among healthcare workers and improving the reporting systems for needle stick injuries to ensure more protection and early use of post-exposure prophylaxis is required. Implementation of safety precautions and safe injection practices and providing engineered safety devices may further reduce the risk.

Prevalence of Sharp Injuries and Associated Factors among Healthcare Workers in North Gondar (Debark), West Gondar (Metema), and South Gondar (Addis Zemen) Primary Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia

“…In this study, the prevalence of sharp injuries was highest in nurses (47.3%), similar to several other studies in Dessie (17) , in Saudi Arabia (1) , and Dire Dawa, Ethiopia (7) , Northwestern Ethiopia (6) , Western Wollega (4) . It could be because nurses administer most of the injections and are responsible for intravenous fluid administration and other procedures which require the use of needles and other sharp devices.…”

“…Also, the insufficient number of nurses and medical devices at workplaces, distraction at work, heavy workload, poor organization, multiple or repeated attempts to complete a procedure, and spending more time in direct patient contact may have increased their vulnerability to such injuries. The current study found that 67% of the study subjects recapped needles after use, which was an important cause of sharp injuries, as observed in several other studies (1,4,7,14) .…”

“…The prevalence of sharp injuries among HCWs in the last 12 months was 24.5%, in line with Tigray, northern Ethiopia's 25.9% prevalence rate (14) , Dire Dawa, Eastern Ethiopia (26.6%) (7) , Dessie City Hospitals, northeast Ethiopia 28.3% (15) . However, the rate we obtained was higher than the 11.57% rate observed in Saudi Arabia (1) . Similarly, the rate of prevalence in our study was https://www.indjst.org/ lower than similar studies reported in Ethiopia and the prevalence of sharp injuries varied considerably across the different parts of Ethiopia; 29.5% in Northwestern Ethiopia (6) , 32.2%, Gambella town, Southwest Ethiopia (11) , 33.7% Western Ethiopia (9) , 34.5% in Dessie town, Northeast Ethiopia (10) , Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 36.2% (2) , 40.1% in Northeast Ethiopia (8) , 75.5% North Wollo Zone Public Hospitals, Northeast Ethiopia, (16) .…”

“…Sharp injuries are accidental skin punctures or lacerations caused by a needle or other sharp instrument in a healthcare setting (1) . Sharps include hypodermic needles, blood collection needles, intravenous (IV) cannulas or needles, scalpels, razor blades, lancets, retractors, scissors, pins, clamps, cutters, staplers, and glass objects (2) .…”

“…In a meta-analysis, it was found that education to raise health workers' awareness, training them on universal safety precautions, safe injection practices, and sharp waste disposal, and provision of engineered safety devices reduced such incidents by 62%. (1) . According to the WHO, each healthcare worker experiences an average of four needlestick injuries annually.…”