Three hundred and thirty-five injuries were reported from 2010 to 2016, occurring mainly in the morning (54%) and frequently caused by needlestick (70%)” Cofini et al (2018).
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: Biological injuries are the most common and serious among health care workers.
OBJECTIVES: This study aims to estimate the injuries’ incidence, job distribution and temporal trend in a hospital in Southern Italy.
METHODS: Data on accidents, collected from January 2010 to December 2016, were analyzed. Poisson distribution was used to calculate incidence rates and respective 95% confidence intervals. Trends were analyzed using the Joinpoint regression model. A multiple logistic regression model was used to identify factors associated with injuries.
RESULTS: Three hundred and thirty-five injuries were reported from 2010 to 2016, occurring mainly in the morning (54%) and frequently caused by needlestick (70%). We observed a significant decline in the incidence rates of the total amount of injuries (ACP=-11.3; 95% CI: -16.3 – -5.9), for nurses (ACP=-15.7; 95% CI: -24.3 – -6.2) and for health and social care assistants (ACP=-13.2; 95% CI: -23.1 – -2.0). Among male physicians the risk of biological accident was higher than female physicians (OR=3.67; 95% CI:1.9-7.1), while among male nurses the risk was lower than among female nurses (OR=0.31; 95% CI: 0.17-0.59). For the nursing category, “afternoon” and “night” represented risk factors with OR=2.19 (95% CI: 1.2-3.7) and OR=8.8 (95% CI: 3.4-22.8) respectively. For physicians, surgical intervention was a risk factor (OR=7.71; 95% CI: 3.2-18.4).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings confirm the need for continuous monitoring and improved control of work-related exposures, both for health and the associated costs.
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Reference:
Cofini, V., Capodacqua, A., Calisse, S., Galassi, I., Cipollone, L. and Necozione, S. (2018) Trend analysis and factors associated with biological injuries among health care workers in Southern Italy. La Medicina del Lavoro. 109(4), p.308-315.
doi: 10.23749/mdl.v109i4.7245.