Risk Factors Associated with Needlestick Injuries among Health Care Workers in Menoufia Governorate, Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Health care workers are at high risk of job-related blood-borne diseases due to needlestick injuries (NSIs).

OBJECTIVE: To assess the risk factors associated with NSIs among health care workers in Menoufia governorate, Egypt.

METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 2260 health care workers of 4 randomly chosen hospitals in Menoufia governorate. Using a predesigned data collection sheet, all staff members were asked about the occurrence of NSIs in the previous 3 months. The response rate was 95.3%. Logistic regression analysis was used to assess the factors associated with NSIs.

RESULTS: The risk of NSIs significantly increased with duration of work <15 years (OR 2.19, 95% CI 1.81 to 2.66), being female (OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.56 to 2.29), working as a paramedic (OR 1.49, 95% CI 1.03 to 2.25), working in surgical ward (OR 4.11, 95% CI 1.71 to 9.88), having more than 2 night shifts/month (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.28 to 2.39), absence of educational sessions (OR 1.99, 95% CI 1.45 to 2.73), absence of hospital policies for NSIs (OR 2.23, 95% CI 1.99 to 2.49), absence of universal precautions (OR 1.66, 95% CI 1.10 to 2.50), recapping the needle after use (OR 2.63, 95% CI 2.12 to 3.26), recapping the needle with two hands (OR 3.08, 95% CI 2.04 to 4.65), not using protective clothes (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.04 to 1.85), and increased working hours---8-12 hours (OR 2.14, 95% CI 1.34 to 3.44) and >12 hours (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.17 to 4.44).

CONCLUSION: The risk of NSIs is still high among health care workers that underlines the importance of comprehensive educational sessions to decrease the risk of job-related blood-borne diseases.