Prevalence of Occupational Exposure to HIV and Factors Associated with Compliance with Post-Exposure Prophylaxis Among Health Workers of the Biyem-Assi, Buea, and Limbe Health Districts of Cameroon Maternal and Child Health and AIDS

Abstract

Background: Although a few studies have assessed occupational exposure and knowledge on post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) for HIV among health care workers (HCWs), limited information is available on the factors that influence the use of HIV PEP among HCWs after occupational exposure in Cameroon. This study aimed to assess the prevalence and determinants of occupational exposure to HIV infection and identify factors (knowledge, attitudes, and practices) that influence compliance to the use of HIV PEP among HCWs in the Biyem-Assi, Buea, and Limbe health districts. Methods: A stratified cross-sectional study was carried out among health care workers from the Biyem-Assi, Buea, and Limbe health districts of Cameroon. A structured questionnaire adapted from previous studies was administered on the socio-demographic status, occupational exposure to biological agents as well as information on knowledge, awareness of PEP guidelines, attitude, and practice of the HCWs towards HIV PEP. Results: Of the 312 participants, 198 (63.5%) experienced an occupational injury, and 240 (76.9%) had a good attitude towards HIV PEP. Age, place of work, and inadequate knowledge were determinants of occupational exposure. Whereas, awareness of PEP guidelines and being a medical doctor influenced compliance with HIV PEP, with 158 (51.0%) having adequate knowledge of the guidelines. Out of the 198 who experienced occupational injury, 114 (57.6%) adopted the good practice and 60 (30.3%) made use of HIV PEP. Conclusion and Global Health Implications: Over half of health care workers had occupational exposure to HIV with poor utilization of post-exposure prophylaxis though they were aware and knowledgeable of PEP guidelines and exhibited good practice. Compliance with HIV PEP utilization was influenced by gender, awareness of PEP guidelines, and specialty of the health care worker. Copyright © 2022 Eyong et al. Published by Global Health and Education Projects, Inc. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0.

HIV Sero-Status of Health Care Workers in Addis Ababa Public Hospitals After Post-Exposure Blood and Body Fluids: A Cross-Sectional Study, October 2022

“…This means that despite the fact that various technologies and prevention methods have been developed, HCWs are still at risk of contracting HIV in their workplaces. This is comparable with the study that was reported from South Africa (4%), 20 Tanzania (3%), 21 and Nigeria (4.2%). 22 …”

“…This means that despite the fact that various technologies and prevention methods have been developed, HCWs are still at risk of contracting HIV in their workplaces. This is comparable with the study that was reported from South Africa (4%), 20 Tanzania (3%), 21 and Nigeria (4.2%). 22 However, the result is much higher than the studies conducted in Iran (1.7%), 23 Australia (2.1%), 24 Kenya (1.5%), 25 and Tunisia (1.7%).…”

Health Care Worker Perception on HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis and Service Delivery among Health Care Workers in South-East Nigeria

“…The findings from this study shows that 27.3% had previous exposure to Occupational HIV which is lower compared to the submission of (Eyong et al, 2022) who reported over half of the health care workers (63.5%) had suffered occupational injuries.…”

The Prevalence, Predictors, and Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Concerning Percutaneous Exposure Incidents among Healthcare Workers and Students in Africa: A Narrative Review.

“…whereas Cameroon exhibited a range from 36.7% to 63.5% [25][26]. Egypt disclosed a notably high prevalence of 83.3% [27].…”

“…The reviewed articles revealed statistically significant relationships between the occurrence of PEIs and various factors. These factors include age [25,47,54,57,72], type of healthcare facilities [25,30], gender [27,28,32,39,43,45,48,57,72], occupation [10, 27, 34, 35, 41-43, 46, 54, 57, 67], work experience [27,30,31,36,54,58,72], needle recapping [27,29,33,37,39,40,42,44,45,60], increased workload [27,29], not observing universal precautions and using personal protective equipment (PPE) [27,29,37,40], remuneration [35], hand hygiene practices [30,35],…”