Causes of Health Care Workers’ Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs: An Exploratory Study

Hon, Chun‐Yip; Abusitta, Dina

doi:10.4212/cjhp.v69i3.1558

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Cytotoxicity can be due to direct contact with CDs without personal protective equipment, needle stick injury, spills, and other unintended exposures which can be contributed by lack of training, inadequate controls, and poor communication [13]. Although guidelines for safe handling of CDs were introduced more than 20 years ago, contamination of both the working environment as well as the healthcare workers is still reported in several recent studies mainly in developing countries [9,14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and associated factors towards cytotoxic drug handling among University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital health professionals, institutional-based cross-sectional study

Simegn

Dagnew

2020

Environ Health Prev Med

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Background: Currently, cancer is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world. Exposure to CDs may occur during drug preparation and mixing, during drug administration, during transport, and cleaning spills and waste disposal. Healthcare workers who prepare or administer antineoplastic drugs, or who work in areas where these drugs are used, can be exposed to these agents. This also affects the public around the exposed area if appropriate disposal system is not known. Several studies reported increased risks of leukemia and breast cancer among nurses handling CDs and not following safety guidelines. Because of the absence of studies in Ethiopia, the current study was conducted to determine the knowledge level of cytotoxic drug handling and associated factors among health professionals in the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Methods: The institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from June to August 2019. Epi info 7.1 was used for data entry and then exported into SPSS version 20 for computing, recording, and statistical analysis. Logistic regression was used to explain the relationship with independent variables. Results: Four hundred and twelve health professionals participated in the study with 53.4% males. The participants' mean age was 29.9 (± 5.43) years ranging from 20-60. Two hundred and twenty-three (54.1%) health professionals heard about cytotoxic drugs, and 52.7% (95% UI 47.8-57.8%) had good knowledge of cytotoxic drug handling. Being male sex (AOR = 1.84, 95% CI (1.13-3.00)), age of 29-31 (AOR = 1.99, 95% CI (1.03-3.84)), hearing information about cytotoxic drug handling (AOR = 2.53, 95% CI (1.43-4.47)), ever attended training on cytotoxic drug handling (AOR = 3.15, 95% CI (1.13-8.79)), ever taking courses related to cytotoxic drugs (AOR = 2.03, 95% CI (1.15-3.59)), and good practice (AOR = 3.24, 95% CI (1.95-5.37)) were significantly associated with knowledge towards cytotoxic drug handling. It is therefore imperative to train health professionals and to incorporate CDs handling related course contents while revising curricula to raise the knowledge of health professionals about proper cytotoxic drug handling.(Continued on next page) Conclusion: Above half of the study participants scored higher than the median of the cytotoxic drug handling knowledge questions. Sex, age, information about cytotoxic drug handling, training, taking courses related to cytotoxic drugs, and good practice were significantly associated with knowledge towards cytotoxic drugs handling.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and associated factors towards cytotoxic drug handling among University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital health professionals, institutional-based cross-sectional study

Simegn

Dagnew

2020

Environ Health Prev Med

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“…An epidemiological study in 2016 determined the immediate and contributing causes of exposure of HCWs to anti-neoplastic drugs. These were classified into 4 categories for immediate causes such as: direct contact with CDs without personal protective equipments, needle stick injury, spills, and other unintended exposures; and 3 categories of contributing causes such as: lack of training, inadequate controls and poor communication (Hon and Abusitta, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Safe Handling of Cytotoxic Drugs Among Oncology Nurses in Tanta University Hospitals

et al. 2019

Egypt. J. Occup. Med.

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Introduction: Occupational exposure to antineoplastic agents and safe handling of cytotoxic drugs (CDs) had gained a high concern among oncology nursing staff due to their potential health risks. Many organizations such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), Oncology Nursing Society and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) have recommended guidelines for safe handling of cytotoxic drugs. Aim of work: To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of oncology nursing staff working at Tanta University Hospitals towards the safe handling of CDs. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted for 3 months (from February to April, 2018) at the Oncology department in Tanta University Hospitals, Egypt. A pre-designed questionnaire was used to assess nurses` KAP regarding safe handling of CDs. Results: A total of 55 oncology nurses participated in the study. The total KAP scores of nurses towards the safe handling of CDs were satisfactory among 63.6% of the studied group. The mean scores of responses for knowledge, attitudes, and practices were 19.05 ± 4.8 out of 26, 13.09 ± 3.07 out of 16, and 8.87 ± 1.35 out of 12, respectively. More than half of the nurses had previous training in the Oncology department. Defective use of personal protective equipments (PPE) during various steps of CDs handling was noticed. Conclusion: There was inadequate practice of safe handling of CDs and defective implementation of guidelines among the studied oncology nurses, necessitating more frequent in-service training and audit system to monitor and evaluate their performance after training.

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“…Our study findings have important implications for nursing from various perspectives: individual health systems, professional organizations, and regulatory efforts. The challenges that characterize influencing nurse's use of PPE found in this and previous studies underscore the importance of higher-order hazard control strategies, such as engineering and administrative controls (Hon & Abusitta, 2016). During the enrollment period, we noted inconsistencies in existing institutional policies on hazardous drug handling across participating institutions, despite similar patient populations and care processes.…”

Section: Implications For Nursingmentioning

confidence: 49%

Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention to Improve Nurses’ Hazardous Drug Handling

2019

ONF

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Objectives: To evaluate whether a web-based educational intervention improved personal protective equipment (PPE) use among oncology nurses who handle hazardous drugs. Sample & Setting: From 2015 to 2017, the authors partnered with 12 ambulatory oncology settings in the United States to enroll 396 nurses, 257 of whom completed baseline and primary endpoint surveys. Methods & Variables: In a cluster randomized controlled trial, 136 nurses in control settings received a one-hour educational module on PPE use with quarterly reminders, and 121 nurses in treatment settings received the control intervention plus tailored messages to address perceived barriers and quarterly data gathered on hazardous drug spills across all study settings. The primary outcome was nurse-reported PPE use. Results: Control and intervention sites had suboptimal PPE use before and after the intervention. No significant differences were observed in PPE use knowledge or perceived barriers. Participants reported high satisfaction with the study experience. Implications for Nursing: Hazardous drug exposure confers notable health risks to healthcare workers. To improve hazardous drug handling, occupational healthcare workers, health systems, and professional organizations should consider coordinated efforts to implement policy and practice changes.

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Causes of Health Care Workers’ Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs: An Exploratory Study

Cited by 16 publications

References 28 publications

Knowledge and associated factors towards cytotoxic drug handling among University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital health professionals, institutional-based cross-sectional study

Knowledge and associated factors towards cytotoxic drug handling among University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital health professionals, institutional-based cross-sectional study

Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Safe Handling of Cytotoxic Drugs Among Oncology Nurses in Tanta University Hospitals

Randomized Controlled Trial of an Intervention to Improve Nurses’ Hazardous Drug Handling

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