Knowledge, Practices and Factors Responsible for Needle Stick Injuries among Health Care Workers in a Tertiary Care Hospital of Northern State of India-Across sectional study

Needle stick and sharps injuries (NSSIs) have been recognized as one of the occupational hazards among health care workers (HCWs). They increase the risk of spread of diseases like HIV, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

To assess the knowledge of HCWs about NSSIs. To study the practices and factors responsible for NSSIs among HCWs. Material and methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at Rohilkhand Medical College and Hospital Bareilly. The respondents consisted of 312 HCWs namely, staff nurses, nursing students, laboratory technician, O.T technicians, resident doctors and interns. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 12.

Results showed that the overall mean age of 312 respondents was 25.7 years and it ranged from 16 years to 50 years with a median of 25 years. The mean age for the males (27.8 years) did not differ significantly from the females (23.7 years). The overall prevalence of needle stick was 56.2%. The most important causes of needle stick injuries was due to the sense of being rushed (47.5%), loading of syringe (27.2%). Majority of the NSIs had reported in the ward (51.9%). Preventing NSSIs is an essential part of any blood borne pathogen prevention programme in the work place. There was a statistically highly significant association between NSIs and age. The x² test was used to evaluate the relationship between variables. p-value of < 0.05 was considered asstatistically significant.

The prevalence of NSIs was found to be 56.2%. Majority of them (85.6%) had knowledge about universal precaution guidelines and transmission of HIV by NSSIs.