Needle-Stick and Sharp Injuries (Nsis) Among Health Care Workers: A Cross Sectional Study in a Tertiary Health Care Institution Of Kolkata, India

Abstract

Background: NSI is an important but preventable occupational hazard among Health care workers (HCWs) all over the world. Objective:To assess prevalence of NSIs and related knowledge and practices among HCWs of a tertiary health care institution. Methods: It was an institution based, cross sectional study done among junior doctors (interns and house staffs) and nurses in a tertiary health care institution of Kolkata. Complete enumeration was done and sample size was 215. Aself-administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Results: The prevalence of NSIs was 22.3%, more among junior doctors compared to nurses (28.3% vs. 11.7%), majority experiencing 1-3 incidents in last 3 months. Recapping of needle was the most common activity leading to NSIs (56.3%). Only 14.6% reported their NSIs to their authority. 64.2% of the study subjects were vaccinated against Hepatitis B. The study subjects had fair knowledge about the diseases transmitted by NSIs, but their practice on post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) was poor. Heavy workload, fatigue, lack of protective measures and inadequate training contributed to NSIs, as they reported. Conclusion: Greater awareness and willingness to adhere to the designed protocols for sharps management among HCWs are urgently needed to prevent this problem.

A Study to Derive Barriers of Physical Activity Among Adults of Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital of Central India

“…According to the 2007 Physicians Health Study, 40% of the 19000 doctors were overweight and 23% were obese [12]. While a study from Kolkata done by Das et al reported 81.9% of the medical professionals were overweight or obese (73.5% obese) [13]. Burden of obesity in medical professional was around 50-70% in the previous studies in India [2,14].…”