NEEDLE STICK INJURY AND AWARENESS OF ITS MANAGEMENT AMONGST DENTAL INTERNS IN LAHORE

ABSTRACT Objective: To find out the frequency and perceived causes of needle stick injuries encountered by dental interns in teaching hospitals of Lahore and to study the level of awareness and associated factors regarding needle stick injury reporting, management and hepatitis B immunization status...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inPakistan Armed Forces medical journal Vol. 70; no. 3; pp. 835 - 841
Main Authors Mazhar, Bushra, Younus, Shoaib, Uzair Bin Akhtar, Ali, Altaf, Mehwish Munawar, Malik Ali Hassan Sajid
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Rawalpindi Knowledge Bylanes 30.06.2020
AsiaNet Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd
Army Medical College Rawalpindi
Subjects
Colleges & universities
Dentistry
Disease transmission
Health aspects
Hepatitis B
Immunization
Infection
Infections
Injuries
intern awareness
Internships
Knowledge
Medical personnel
Medical schools
needle stick injury
Needlestick injuries
Prevention
Questionnaires
sharps injuries
Teaching hospitals
Training
Pakistan
Lahore Pakistan
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:ABSTRACT Objective: To find out the frequency and perceived causes of needle stick injuries encountered by dental interns in teaching hospitals of Lahore and to study the level of awareness and associated factors regarding needle stick injury reporting, management and hepatitis B immunization status. Study Design: Cross-sectional survey. Duration and Place of Study: Multi center, from May to Jun 2019. Methodology: Self-administered questionnaires were circulated amongst dental interns of randomly selected teaching hospitals of Lahore. Inclusion criteria was consenting dental interns completing 1-year internship by May 31 st 2019. Results: Forty one interns (41%) received a 3-dose hepatitis B vaccination once, while thirty (30%) had an additional 5-yearly booster administered. Sixty three interns (63%) endorsed post exposure prophylaxis administration for hepatitis B, C and human immunodeficiency virus. Thirty three interns (33%) encountered sharp injury. No correlation was found between having knowledge about Universal Precaution Guidelines and frequency of sharp injury (p=0.218). Eleven interns (33%) reported injury to a senior. The most common cause of injury was “being rushed” 40 (40%). Eight interns (36%) identified anesthesia needle as the agent of injury. A statistically significant difference was found (p<0.001) between needle recapping preference of interns and their knowledge about Universal Precaution Guidelines. Conclusion: The low sharp injury reporting rate and lack of knowledge regarding post-exposure prophylaxis warrants a need to increase awareness regarding sharp injury prevention, surveillance and management.
ISSN:0030-9648
2411-8842