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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Guang-Xiang Chen, Division of Safety Research, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Road, MS/H-1811, Morgantown, WV 26505, 304-285-5995, gdc0@cdc.gov
Objective: To compare work-related needle stick injuries treated in hospital EDs among healthcare workers between hospitals and non-hospital settings.
Methods: Telephone interviews were conducted with healthcare workers who had work-related needle stick injuries treated in hospital EDs from March 2000 to January 2002. The workers were identified through the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, a stratified probability sample of hospital EDs in the U.S. and its territories. Healthcare workers in non-hospital settings were over sampled in this study population.
Results: There are 383 completed interviews of healthcare workers. Of these, 78% were from hospitals and 22% from non-hospital settings which include emergency medical services, doctors= offices, nursing homes, etc. In non-hospital settings, the injuries were more likely to occur after use of the needle (84%) compared to hospitals (61%, p=0.0001). In hospitals, the needle was more likely to be held by the injured worker (66%; p=0.02) at the time of injury compared to non-hospital settings (52%). There were significant differences in worker reported use of personal protective equipment at the time of injury with 67% from non-hospital settings compared to 82% (p=0.01) from hospitals. Significantly more workers in hospitals reported that treatment procedures (94%) and bloodborne pathogen safety training (94% ) were available in their workplaces compared to non-hospital settings (79%, p<0.0001 and 86%, p=0.01 respectively).
Conclusions: This study suggests that there are significant differences in how needle stick injuries occurred and were treated, and safety training available between hospitals and non-hospital settings.
Learning Objectives:
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.