Needlestick Injury among Medical Students in an Australian University

Abstract

Needlestick Injuries (NSI) commonly occurs in the hospital setting. Medical students are at risk of NSI due to lack of clinical experience. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence and knowledge, attitudes, awareness and practices of NSI among medical students at an Australian university. We conducted a cross-sectional study using an online questionnaire on NSI-related knowledge, attitude, awareness, practice, incidents and follow up. The survey was distributed to clinical students (years 3-6) of a 6-year medical program in Australia. Data were analysed with descriptive and bivariate analyses (IBM SPSS v.22; alpha 0.05). Response rate to the study was 13.8% (153/1111). Students' median score for knowledge was 3 out of maximum 6; attitude 3/4; awareness 4/6 and practice 1/2. Twenty-five students sustained a total of 28 NSI events in the past 12 months (proportion 16.6%, 95% confidence interval 10.9%-22.4%; incidence density 1.5/100 person-month); 13/25 did not report their NSI. Students in higher year of study were associated with higher rate of NSI (p = 0.02). Clinical and medical schools must address poor NSI-related knowledge, improve attitudes to reporting and provide instructions on safe handling of sharps. Surveillance of NSI specifically for medical students will provide important information to minimise harm.

Needle Stick and Sharp Objects Injuries Infection Prevention and Control Guidelines among Health Care Students: Descriptive, Cross Sectional Study

“…This indicates the importance of the integration of infection control guidelines into the curriculum of nursing and paramedical students and the emphasis on its practice in the areas of clinical training. This study is in line with the results of Marjadi et. al.…”

“…(2017) who found that respondents' NSI-related knowledge were generally moderate with a median score of 3 out of a maximum of 6 for knowledge. [23] This consistency of findings despite the advancement in the infection control programs is alerting. Clinical instructors should increase students' training to assess clinical tasks and identify NSI risks that they will face.…”

Worldwide Prevalence of Occupational Exposure to Needle Stick Injury among Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…A total of 10,233 healthcare workers were included in 18 studies, of which were conducted in 14 countries [ 16 , 25 – 41 ]: three articles [ 29 , 33 , 41 ] in Iran, two in Ethiopia [ 27 , 36 ], two in India [ 28 , 39 ], and one (5.55%) in other countries such as Nigeria [ 30 ], USA [ 25 ], China [ 31 ], Serbia [ 26 ], Saudi Arabia [ 32 ], Bangalore [ 34 ], Thailand [ 16 ], Australia [ 35 ], Bosnia and Herzegovina [ 37 ], Tanzania [ 38 ], and Switzerland [ 40 ].…”

“…Among the included articles, 6 articles [ 26 – 30 , 33 ] reported both prevalence of NSIs in career time and previous one year, while 6 [ 25 , 31 , 32 , 36 , 37 , 41 ] and 6 [ 16 , 34 , 35 , 38 – 40 ] of articles reported career time alone and previous one-year prevalence of NSIs alone, respectively. Most ( 5 (83.3%)) of the included articles [ 16 , 26 – 34 , 36 – 39 , 41 ] were conducted in the developing countries, while the rest of the studies [ 25 , 35 , 40 ] were in a developed country ( Table 1 ).…”

Comparison of knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding needle-stick injury among health care providers

“…Only a minor proportion of respondents reported fear of stigma and discrimination as a cause of non-reporting (11%), whereas this formed the main cause of non-reporting in other studies. [28] The KAP regarding NSI and PEP among HCWs is also relevant among the primary care physicians as they provide the bulk of medical services to a good majority of patients. Their job responsibilities include phlebotomy, block anesthesia, IV cannulation, laceration repair, etc., which makes them at risk for NSI.…”