Prevalence and causes of needlestick injuries among dental care providers: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify the prevalence and causes of NeedleStick Injuries (NSI) among dental care providers.Methods Data collection was carried out through searching the following key words: needlestick injuries, percutaneous injuries, epidemiology, prevalence, occurrence, etiology, risk factors. The following databases were searched: Google Scholar, PubMed, Scopus, MagIran, Iranian Scientific Information Database (SID) and IranMedex. Moreover, some relevant journals and websites were searched manually and the reference lists of the selected articles were checked. In the final stage of the literature review, we searched the gray literature and contacted the experts whenever needed.Results From 765 articles reviewed, 31 cases were included in the study. In total, the needlestick injury history of 6,737 people (4,402 dentists, 1,000 Dental Health Care Workers (DHCWs) and 1,335 students) had been reported. The overall prevalence of NSI was 48% at an average of 11.1 months. About 69% of NSI cases were not reported. About 79% of the different groups of DHCWs had been vaccinated for the hepatitis B virus (HBV). The most important factors affecting the occurrence of NSI were categorized into two groups of individual factors (lapse in concentration, stress, lack of adequate trainings, and not using safety precautions) and patient-related factors (unexpected patient movements, anxious and uncooperative patients). The occurrence of NSI during treatment procedure (40.1 mean propotion), doing injections (34.2 mean propotion) and recapping (30 mean propotion) were the most important procedures causing NSI among dentists.Conclusion Results of the study show thatprevalence of NSI among DHCWs is high, incidence report of NSI is low and vaccination rate for prevention of bloodborne diseases is inadequate. In this regard it’s recommended to design and implemented comprehensive preventive measures to reduction of NSI prevalence, increase reporting of NSI and vaccination rate