Occupational health hazards among healthcare providers and ancillary staff in Ghana: a scoping review

Abstract

ObjectiveThe strict implementation of occupational health and safety policy curbs exposure to occupational hazards. However, empirical evidence is lacking in the Ghanaian context. This review primarily aimed to explore exposure to occupational hazards among healthcare providers and ancillary staff in Ghana.DesignA scoping review was conducted based on Arksey and O’Malley’s methodological framework and Levacet al’s methodological enhancement.Data sourcesSearches were conducted of the PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and Scopus databases, as well as Google Scholar and websites of tertiary institutions in Ghana, for publications from 1 January 2010 to 30 November 2021.Eligibility criteriaQuantitative studies that were published in the English language and focused on occupational exposure to biological and/or non-biological hazards among healthcare professionals in Ghana were included.Data extraction and synthesisTwo independent reviewers extracted the data based on the type of occupational exposure and descriptive characteristics of the studies. The data are presented in tables and graphs. A narrative summary of review findings was prepared based on the review research questions.ResultsOur systematic search strategy retrieved 507 publications; however, only 43 met the inclusion criteria. A little over one-quarter were unpublished theses/dissertations. The included studies were related to biological, psychosocial, ergonomic and other non-biological hazards. 55.8% of the studies were related to exposure to biological hazards and related preventive measures. In general, health workers were reported to use and comply with control and preventive measures; however, knowledge of control and preventive measures was suboptimal.ConclusionWork is needed to address the issue of occupational health hazard exposure in Ghana’s health system. More research is needed to understand the extent of these exposures and their effects on the health system.

Exposure to needlestick injury among healthcare support staff in Greater Accra, Ghana: a cross-sectional study

“…⇒ In this study conducted among healthcare support staff within 10 hospitals in the Greater Accra region, Ghana, it was found that being a healthcare assistant was associated with a higher prevalence of exposure to needlestick injury while being married, had training on standard precaution, being a supervisor and non-existence of needlestick reporting systems were linked to lower prevalence of exposure. BMJ Public Health 44.5% 8 while the annual prevalence of needlestick injury ranged from 39.0%-91.0% 9 to 14.0%-60.0% 10 in Africa and Ghana, respectively.…”

“…The global picture of lack of data, and low research on needlestick injury among healthcare support staff is similar to the situation in Africa and other developing countries, 9 15 where few studies have addressed needlestick injury among orderlies and medical waste handlers. 16 17 According to a recent scoping review on exposure to occupational health hazards among healthcare providers and healthcare support staff of the Ghanaian healthcare industry, 10 no study addressed needlestick injury among the support staff of the healthcare industry; hence, the reason for the conduct of this study. This research, therefore, investigated the prevalence and determinants of exposure to needlestick injury among healthcare support staff in the populated Greater Accra region of Ghana.…”

Prevalence, risk factors and psychological consequences of workplace violence among health workers in the Greater Accra region, Ghana: a cross-sectional study

“…In the Ghanaian setting, exposure to workplace violence among health workers has been widely rumoured, but there is insufficient evidence on the issue [ 14 ]. A few available studies depicted that about 9.0–73.9% cases of workplace violence are experienced by health workers in Ghana [ 14 – 17 ]. Boafo et al‘s study revealed that 12.0% and 52.2% of nurses in Ghana are sexually harassed and verbally abused, respectively.…”