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Needlestick Injury in Hospital Personnel: A Multicenter Survey From Central Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Francesco Albertoni ,
Giuseppe Ippolito ,
Nicola Petrosillo ,
Lorenzo Sommella ,
Vincenzo Di Nardo ,
Carlo Ricci ,
Elisabetta Franco ,
Carlo A. Perucci ,
Elisabetta Rapiti  and
Gennaro Zullo
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Francesco Albertoni
Affiliation:
Latium Region Epidemiology Unit, Rome, Italy
Giuseppe Ippolito*
Affiliation:
AIDS Unit, Lazzaro Spallanzani Hospital, Rome, Italy
Nicola Petrosillo
Affiliation:
Frosinone General Hospital, Rome, Italy
Lorenzo Sommella
Affiliation:
University Hospital Agostino Gemelli, Rome, Italy
Vincenzo Di Nardo
Affiliation:
Rieti General Hospital, Rome, Italy
Carlo Ricci
Affiliation:
Tivoli Civic Hospital, Rome, Italy
Elisabetta Franco
Affiliation:
Institute of Hygiene, Tor Vergata University, Rome, Italy
Carlo A. Perucci
Affiliation:
Latium Region Epidemiology Unit, Rome, Italy
Elisabetta Rapiti
Affiliation:
Latium Region Epidemiology Unit, Rome, Italy
Gennaro Zullo
Affiliation:
S. Filippo Hospital, Rome, Italy
*
Unita Operativa AIDS, Ospedale L. Spallanzani, Vie Portuense 292, 00149 Rome, Italy
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Abstract

Objectives:

To assess the rate of needlestick injury in hospital personnel in an Italian region. To identify risk factors potentially amenable to correction.

Design:

Hospital workers undergoing hepatitis B prevaccination testing in 1985 through 1986 were interviewed regarding needlestick injury in the previous year, job category, area of work, years of employment, and other pertinent information.

Setting:

Of the 98 public hospitals of the Latium region, 68 participated in the survey: 32 of 55 with less than 200 beds, 20 of 25 with 200 to 300 beds, 11 of 13 with 400 to 900 beds, and all of the 5 with more than 1,000 beds.

Participants:

All healthcare workers providing direct patient care or environmental services as well as student nurses were invited by the hospital directors to undergo hepatitis B prevaccination testing and vaccination, if eligible.

Results:

Of 30,226 hospital workers of the 68 participating hospitals, 20,055 were interviewed (66.3%): 47.7% of the 7,172 doctors, 71% of the 14,157 nurses, 55.9% of the 2,513 technicians, and 71.9% of the 6,384 ancillary workers. Needlestick injury was recalled by 29.3%; the rates were 54.9%, 35.3%, 33.8%, 26.5%, 18.7%, and 14.7% in surgeons, registered and unskilled nurses, physicians, ancillary workers, and technicians, respectively. The recalled injury rate was 39.7% and 34.0% in surgical and intensive care areas; in infectious diseases, it was 16.7%. Bates were lower in hospitals with 200 to 300 beds (25.6%). The needlestick injury rate declined from 32% in those with less than 5 years of employment to 28% in those with more than 20 years (p<.01). Prevalence of HBV infection was higher in student nurses and young workers recalling a needlestick exposure (14.3% and 15.8%, respectively), versus 10.1% and 12.8% in those not exposed (p<.01 and <.05, respectively).

Conclusions:

Parenteral exposure to bloodborne infectious agents is a relevant risk among healthcare workers in our region, particularly in defined job categories and hospital areas (surgeons, nurses, surgical, and intensive care areas). Immunization and educational efforts should be made along with better designs of devices to reduce the risk of infection.

Type
Brief Report
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 13 , Issue 9 , September 1992 , pp. 540 - 544
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1992

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