Prevalence of needlestick injury and factors associated with needlestick injury among health-care workers in a tertiary care hospital

• Published in: The journal of the Academy of Clinical Microbiologists 2021-01, Vol.23 (1), p.24-28
• Main Authors: Sridharan, Sowmya, Ramanathan, Yamunadevi, Panchatcharam, Senthur, Venkatasubramanian, Ramasubramanian
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Medical personnel; Work-related injuries; Workers
• ISSN: 0972-1282; 2348-5086
• DOI: 10.4103/jacm.jacm_47_21

INTRODUCTION: One of the most common causes of occupational injury in hospitals is needlestick injury (NSI). Most injuries are self-inflicted but a few are inflicted by coworkers. The WHO reports that out of the 35 million health-care workers (HCWs), 2 million experience percutaneous exposure to infectious diseases each year. Early and prompt reporting of NSI enables hospitals to provide post-exposure prophylaxis and counselling as needed. Here, we present our hospital data for the year 2019. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: The aim and objective of the study are to calculate the incidence of NSI among HCWs in our hospital for the year 2019 and to analyse the reasons for the NSI and to formulate corrective actions for the same. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective observational study of NSI from 1 January 2019 to 31 December 2019 at our tertiary care hospital. We performed a root cause analysis for the same. RESULTS: A total of 59 cases of NSI were documented. The highest incidence of NSI was in the operation theatre(47.45%). Among all health care workers, doctors had the highest NSI incidents(40.6%), Around 63%(37) of the cases happened due to technique errors such as improper handling (while passing sharp instruments) and poor sharp management (while loading the scalpel blade over the handle). CONCLUSION: NSI is a fully preventable occupational hazard. Prompt reporting of NSI is needed for corrective measures.