Assessment of needle stick injuries and related knowledge among health care workers participating in an infection control-training program at El Minia University Hospital

ABSTRACT

Needle stick injuries are an important and continuing cause of exposure to serious and fatal diseases among health care workers [HCWs] who suffer daily accidental occupational exposure to needle stick injuries during the course of their role of caring for patients to determine the burden of needle stick injuries, its causes and knowledge related to it among HCW participating in an infection control training program at Minia University Hospital [MUH]. A well-structured pre- and post-training questionnaires about general infection control knowledge was used and included also 10 basic knowledge questions and inquiries about incidents of needle sticks, its frequency and cause, and history of hepatitis B vaccination. A total of 278 physicians and 56 dentists participated in this study. Dentists were younger than physicians, and had a slightly higher knowledge score than physicians. We found that 63.2% of the participating physicians and dentists experienced at lease one needle stick during their practice. About 61% and 71.4% of the physicians and dentists experienced at lease one needle stick during their practice, respectively, suggesting that dentists were more likely to be exposed to needle stick injuries than physicians. The overall mean of needle stick injuries per year among the participants was 4.42 [ +/- 1.83]. However, the average numbers of sticks were 4.51 [ +/- 1.87] and 4.03 [ +/- 1.77] among the participating physicians and dentists, respectively. Self-inflicting injuries during bending or recapping of a used needle was the most frequent cause of needle sticks [41% for physicians and 59% for dentists]. Nearly 72% of the participants were categorized as excellent in basic knowledge regarding infection control. Also, knowledge of needle stick management significantly improved by 63.3% and 7.8% post-training among dentists and physicians, respectively. Importantly, as the knowledge score increases, the liability to be injured by needles decreased. On the other hand, physicians were three times more likely to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B virus [HBV] than dentists although the overall vaccination rate was very low [15.2% vs. 4.2% among physicians and dentists, respectively]. needle stick injuries are common among HCW of MUH and recapping and bending of needles are prevalent inappropriate practices that increase the likelihood of needle sticks. Ensuring that HCW are properly trained on safe use and disposal of sharps will make this practice safer