Occupational Exposure to Blood and Other Body Fluids Among Healthcare Workers in Three Teaching Hospitals, Southeast Iran

Abstract

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) regularly face the risk of exposure to sharp injuries and splashes as an occupational hazard, which presents a major risk for acquiring blood-borne infectious agents. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the occurrence of needlestick injuries (NSIs) and other high-risk occupational exposures to blood and body fluids (BBFs) among HCWs in three teaching hospitals affiliated with the Zahedan University of Medical Sciences. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from March 2013 to December 2014. Information on self-reported incidents, circumstances surrounding occupational exposure, and post-exposure management were collected from an ongoing surveillance system. Descriptive statistics and chi square tests were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 236 incidents of occupational exposure were registered during the study period. Nurses (82, 34.7%) were most frequently exposed to BBFs, followed by physicians (57, 24.2%). Two hundred and nineteen (92.8%) of the personnel sustained NSIs, and 17 (7.2%) had splashes to mucus membranes. The incidents were most frequently reported from the internal medicine ward (19.1%) followed by the operating theater (17.1%). Subjects with splashes to mucus membranes were more likely to postpone seeking medical advice following exposure, as compared with needlestick cases (23.5% versus 5%, P < 0.016). A significantly greater proportion of pediatric and emergency department staff were found to delay post-exposure measures (P < 0.040). Conclusions:The relatively high prevalence of percutaneous injuries and splashes in this study emphasized the importance of improved prevention strategies, better hospital surveillance for occupational exposure, and enhanced training of healthcare workers.

Epidemiology of needlestick and sharp injuries among health care workers based on records from 252 hospitals for the period 2010–2014, Poland

“…Many studies indicate that nurses are the most vulnerable to infectious material [14, 15]. Our research also confirmed this.…”

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 ).…”

Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids and use of human immunodeficiency virus post-exposure prophylaxis amongst nurses in a Gauteng Province hospital

“…As Ndou (2017) also stated that this trend puts HCWs at risk of contracting infections whilst performing their daily work as the efficacy of prevention strategies cannot be analysed. The reasons for not reporting the exposures correlate with other studies conducted in Africa (Azadi, Anoosheh & Delpisheh 2011;Mathewos et al 2013;Sendo 2014;Shriyan & Annamma 2012;Tabatabaei et al 2016). Information on HIV PEP should be available at the unit level.…”