Prevalence of non-sterile injuries among modern medicine students of Assam

Bhattacharjya, Chiranjeev and Kannan, Srinivasan (2009): Prevalence of non-sterile injuries among modern medicine students of Assam.

Abstract

Objectives: To study the prevalence and associated factors of non-sterile occupational injuries among students of modern medicine in Assam. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was conducted using a self-administered, pre-tested, structured questionnaire in English language adapted from the CDC workbook for designing, implementing and evaluating a sharps injury prevention program 2008. All the final year medical, dental and nursing students from the three medical colleges and one dental college in Assam were included in the study. Univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis were done using SPSS version 17.0. Results: Sharp injuries were highest among nursing students (50.5 percent) followed by dental (45.2 percent) and medical (30.0 percent) students whereas body fluid contact were highest among medical students (37.7 percent) followed by dental (32.3 percent) and nursing (30.3 percent) students. Gender, discipline, residence, procedure, perception of risk for infections and recapping of needle were the predictors for sharp injuries and when adjusted for other independent variables, procedure and recapping of needle were the most important predictors of sharp injuries whereas procedure, awareness about transmission of infection, perception of risk for infections, type of exposure and use of doctor’s apron were the predictors for body fluid contact and after adjusting for other independent variables, procedure and use of doctor’s apron were the most important predictors for body fluid contact. Conclusion: Non-sterile occupational injuries among the students of modern medicine are associated with factors which can be modified by intensive education and training of the students. Policy changes at the institute level can help in this direction.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: injuries, occupational injuries, environmental health, occupational health, medical students
• Subjects: K - Law and Economics > K3 - Other Substantive Areas of Law > K32 - Environmental, Health, and Safety Law; I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I18 - Government Policy ; Regulation ; Public Health; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J28 - Safety ; Job Satisfaction ; Related Public Policy

References

1. Sodeyama T, Kiyosawa K, Urushihara A et al. Detection of hepatitis C virus markers and hepatitis C virus genomic-RNA after needlestick accidents. Arch Intern Med 1993; 153: 1565–1572.

2. Henderson DK, Fahey BJ, Willy M, et al. Risk for occupational transmission of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) associated with clinical exposures. A prospective evaluation. Ann Intern Med 1990; 113: 740–746.

3. Osborn EH, Papadakis MA, Gerberding JL. Occupational exposures to body fluids among medical students. A seven-year longitudinal study. Ann Intern Med 1999; 130: 45–51.

4. Ippolito G, Puro V, De Carli G. The Italian study group on occupational risk of HIV infection. The risk of occupational HIV infection in health care workers. Arch Intern Med 1993; 153:1451.

5. Roy E, Robillard P. Under-reporting of accidental exposures to blood and other body fluids in health care setting: an alarming situation. Adv Eposure Prev 1995; 14:11-3.

6. Prüss-Üstün, Rapiti E, Hutin Y. Sharp injuries: global burden of disease from sharps injuries to health-care workers, World Health Organization, Geneva, 2003.

7. Chin RL, Tabas JA, Neighbor ML, Francisco S. A teaching module to prevent needle sticks and exposures to body fluid. Acad Med 2001; 76: 529–30.

8. Trim JC, Elliott TSJ. A review of sharps injuries and preventative strategies. J Hosp Infect 2003; 53: 237–42.

9. Patterson JM, Novak CB, Mackinnon SE, Ellis RA. Needlestick injuries among medical students. Am J Infect Control 2003; 31:226–30.

10. Varma M, Mehta G. Needle stick injuries among medical students. J Indian Med Assoc 2000; 98: 436–438.

11. Choudhury RP, Cleator SJ. An examination of needlestick injury rates, hepatitis B vaccination uptake and instruction on ‘sharps’ technique among medical students. J Hosp Infect 1992; 22: 143–148.

12. Koenig S, Chu J. Medical student exposure to blood and infectious body fluids. Am J Infect Control 1995; 23:40-3.

13. McCarthy GM, Britton JE. A Survey of Final-Year Dental, Medical and Nursing Students: Occupational Injuries and Infection control. Canadian Dental Association 2000.

14. Tetali S, Choudhury PL. Occupational exposure to sharps and splash: Risk among health care providers in three tertiary care hospitals in South India. Indian Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 2006; 10:35-40.

15. Osborn HSE, Papadakis MA, Gerberding JL. Occupational exposure to body fluids among medical students: A seven year longitudinal study. Annals of Internal Medicine 1999; 130.

16. Mohammad YN, Hassim IN. Study on Incidence of Needle Stick Injury and Factors Associated with this Problem among Medical Students. J Occup Health 2003; 45: 172-178.

17. Elliot SKF, Keeton A, Holt A. Medical student’s knowledge and attitudes towards standard precautions. Journal of Hospital Infection 2007; 65:371-72.

18. Biju IK, Sattar A, Kate M, et al. Incidence and awareness of hepatitis B infection among medical and paramedical students. Indian J Gastroenterol 2002; 21:104-5

19. Phukan AC SS, Das HK, Mahanta J. HCV activity in an isolated community in north east india. Indian J Pathol Microbiol 2001; 44:403-05.

20. Khaja MN, Madhavi C, Thippavazzula R, Nafeesa F, Habib AM, Habibullah CM, et al. High prevalence of hepatitis C virus infection and genotype distribution among general population, blood donors and risk groups. Infect Genet Evol 2006; 6:198–204.

21. Chadha MS, Tungatkar SP and Arankalle VA. Insignificant prevalence of antibodies to hepatitis C in a rural area of western Maharashtra. Indian J Gastroentero 1999; 18: 22–23.

22. Chowdhury A, Santra A, Chaudhuri S, Dhali GK, Chaudhuri S, Maity SG, et al. Hepatitis C virus infection in the general population: a community-based study in West Bengal, India. Hepatology 2003; 37: 802–809.

23. Batham A, Narula D, Toteja T, Sreenivas V, Puliyel JM. Systematic review and meta-analysis. Prevalence of Hepatitis B in India 2006. medind.nic.in/ibv/t07/i9/ibvt07i9p663.pdf (Accessed on 19th March, 2009).

24. National Family Health Survey 3. www.nfhsindia.org/nfhs3.html- 83k (Accessed on 3rd March, 2009).

25. Choudhury RP, Cleator SJ. An examination of needlestick injury rates, hepatitis B vaccination uptake and instruction on ‘sharps’ technique among medical students. J Hosp Infect 1992; 22: 143–148.

26. Chia HP, Koh D, Jeyaratnam J. A study of needle sticks injuries among medical undergraduates. Ann Acad Med Singapore 1993; 22(3):338-41.

27. WHO. Safe Management of Wastes from Health Care Activities. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1999.

28. Stotka JL, Wong ES, Williams DS, Stuart CG, Markowitz SM. An Analysis of Blood and Body Fluid Exposures Sustained by House Officers, Medical Students, and Nursing Personnel on Acute-Care General Medical Wards: A Prospective Study. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 1991; 12:583–590.

29. Kermode M, Jolley D, Langkham B, Thomas MS, Crofts N. Occupational exposure to blood and risk of blood borne virus infection among health care workers in rural north Indian health care settings. American Journal of Infection Control 2005; 33:34-41.