Occupational Injuries Prone to Infectious Risks amongst Healthcare Personnel in Kuwait: A Retrospective Study

Abstract

Objective: The study aimed at determining the prevalence of incident occupational exposure to blood and other potentially infectious materials (OPIM) among healthcare personnel (HCP) during 2010 and at evaluating the factors associated with these incidents. Subjects and Methods: An epidemiological, retrospective, record-based study was conducted. All self-reported incidents of occupational exposure to blood and OPIM among HCP from all healthcare settings of the Kuwait Ministry of Health during 2010 were included. Results: The total number of the exposed HCP was 249. The prevalence of incident exposure was 0.7% of the HCP at risk. Their mean age was 32.31 ± 6.98 years. The majority were nurses: 166 (66.7%), followed by doctors: 35 (14.1%), technicians: 26 (10.4%) and housekeeping personnel: 22 (8.8%). Needle stick injury was the most common type of exposure, in 189 (75.9%), followed by sharp-object injury, mucous-membrane exposure and contact with nonintact skin. The majority of needle stick exposures, i.e. 177 (93.7%), were caused by hollow-bore needles. Exposure to blood represented 96.8%, mostly during drawing blood and the insertion or removal of needles from patients [88 (35.4%)] and when performing surgical interventions [56 (22.6%)]. Easily preventable exposures such as injuries related to 2-handed recapping of needles [24 (9.6%)] and garbage collection [21 (8.4%)] were reported. Exposures mainly occurred in the inpatient wards [75 (30.1%)] and operating theaters [56 (22.6%)]. Among the exposed HCP, 130 (52.2%) had been fully vaccinated against hepatitis B virus (HBV). Conclusion: Needle stick injuries are the most common exposure among HCP in Kuwait, and nurses are the most frequently involved HCP category. A good proportion of exposures could be easily prevented. HBV vaccination coverage is incomplete.

Occupational exposure to HIV among healthcare workers in PMTCT sites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…On the contrary, higher prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV infection among health care workers than the prevalence found in the current study has been reported by several other researchers in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world [16]. But, our findings on prevalence of occupational exposure are above that obtained from similar studies conducted in Poland [10],Kuwait [17], South Korea [18] and Northern Nigeria [2]. This difference in prevalence of HIV observed in previous studies and our present study could be as a result of the difference in the study setting, study design and other methodological techniques.…”

Occupational exposure to HIV among healthcare workers in PMTCT sites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria

“…These findings are consistent and similar to the Bosnia/Herzegovinian, Cameroonian, Saudi Arabian studies on risk of occupational exposure conducted [9][12] [13]. On the contrary, higher prevalence of occupational exposure to HIV infection among health care workers than the prevalence found in the current study has been reported by several other researchers in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the world [14].But, our findings on prevalence of occupational exposure are above that obtained from similar studies conducted in Poland [8] ,Kuwait [15] , South Korea [16] and Northern Nigeria [17].This difference in prevalence of HIV observed in previous studies and our present study could be as a result of the difference in the study setting, study design and other methodological techniques. The differential in the level of training received by the health care workers in different study settings could also contribute to the variation.…”

Investigating needle stick injuries: Incidence, knowledge and perception among South Jordanian nursing students

“…Most of the NSI cases occurred in the emergency units and the medical surgical units. Omer et al (2015) showed that the NSIs represent the most common mode of exposure in 189 (75.9%) healthcare personnel; [19] while Salmanzadeh et al (2015) showed that the highest frequency of NSIs were observed among medical staff (79.7%). [20] A study by Askarian and Malekmakan (2006) reported that 71.1% (489/688) of the students experienced NSIs which usually occurred in the patient rooms (43.6%); while 82% (401/489) of NSIs were not reported.…”