Occupational blood exposure beyond needle stick injuries: hospital-based cross-sectional study among healthcare workers in governmental hospitals of Northern Ethiopia

Abstract

Background Occupational blood exposure is one of the major public health problems that healthcare workers (HCWs) are encountering. Most previous occupational blood exposure studies are delimited to needle stick injury, which could underestimate the real level of blood exposure. On the other hand, others deal with crude blood and body-fluids exposure, which possibly overestimate the magnitude of blood exposure. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the prevalence of occupational blood exposure and identifying associated factors among HCWs in the Southern Tigrai zone governmental hospitals of Northern Ethiopia considering all the potential means of blood exposure (needle stick injury, sharp medical equipment injury, and blood splash) while excluding blood-free body-fluids. Methods A hospital based cross-sectional study design was employed to gather data from randomly selected HCWs in three governmental hospitals from February to March, 2020. A multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the independent factors associated with the outcome variable. Results From the total of 318 HCWs, 148 (46.5 %) were exposed to blood at least once in their lifetime. Working for more than 40 h per week (AOR= 9.4; 95 % CI: 7.61, 11.41), lack of adequate personal protective equipment (PPE) (AOR=3.88; 95 % CI: 1.64, 5.42), Hepatitis B virus vaccination (AOR=0.54; 95 % CI: 0.12,0.78), recapping used needle sticks (AOR=3.18; 95 % CI: 1.28, 8.83), and lack of infection prevention and patient safety (IPPS) training (AOR=13.5; 95 % CI: 8.12,19.11) were detected to significantly increase the likelihood of occupational blood exposure. Conclusions As nearly half of the HCWs were exposed to blood, reducing work load below 40 h per week by employing additional staff members, supplying adequate PPE, avoiding recapping of used needle sticks, and providing IPPS training for the HCWs should be practiced.

Knowledge and Practice of Postgraduate Laboratory Technician Students About Occupational Hazards and Safety Measures

“…Occupational safety and preventive measures strengthen and sustain the physical, mental, and social well-being of workers across all occupational categories (Reda et al, 2021). A quasiexperimental previous study in our locality revealed that lab technicians working in teaching lab had poor knowledge and practices of safety measures that were improved after intervention (El-Gilany et al, 2017).…”

Determination and prioritization of factors affecting the occurrence of needle stick injuries among healthcare workers using techniques of Delphi and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP)

“…Access to personal protective equipment and the correct use of this equipment play a great role in reducing the occurrence of needlestick injuries among healthcare personnel. The results of a study carried out by Semere Reda et al revealed inadequate access to personal protective equipment can significantly increase the likelihood of occupational exposure to blood among healthcare workers (odds ratio = 3.88) [ 74 ]. Dulon et al concluded that access to personal protective equipment and correct use of this equipment can substantially reduce the occurrence of needlestick injuries [ 36 ].…”

Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among nursing students in clinical internship

“…More than 90 % of these infections occur in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. 5 , 7 The exact number of HCWs exposed to blood is unknown; However, a systematic review done in 21 African countries showed that the lifetime and 12-month prevalence of occupational exposure to body fluids was 5.7% (95% confidence interval, CI: 59.7-71.6) and 48.0% (95% CI: 40.7-55.3), respectively. 8 …”