Background: Health-care workers (HCWs) are at substantial risk of acquiring blood-borne infections such as HIV, hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) through needlestick injuries (NSIs).
Objectives: To study the prevalence and associated factors of needlestick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) among the HCWs and to assess the level of awareness of the HCWs regarding NSSI.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during the months of April–June 2014 in a tertiary-care hospital. The HCWs comprised of senior residents, interns, nurses, and laboratory technicians. A self-administered structured questionnaire consisting of questions regarding incidence of NSIs that occurred during last 3 months, circumstances of the injury and other relevant information were collected from the participants.
Results: It was found that 64% participants experienced NSI at least once during the past 3 months. Of participants, 55% were vaccinated for hepatitis B whereas the rest were not vaccinated or did not complete the entire schedule. An NSI was experienced by 60.9% of participants during recapping of needle; 56.2% of HCW reported the incident to the infection control staff
Conclusion: In addition to very high rates of NSIs, low safety practices including inadequate vaccination coverage, unavailability of infection control guidelines, and other preventive facilities were reported in this study. Formal training by health authorities in the local area about safe practices and availability of preventive facilities should be ensured regarding NSIs among HCWs.
Key words: Needlestick injuries, health-care workers
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