بررسی میزان شیوع و علل صدمات ناشی از اجسام نوک تیز در کارکنان شبکه بهداشت و درمان شهرستان بهار

Background and aimsDue to occupational exposures, primary health care workers are more at risk of blood- borne infections such as AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of occupational injuries and its related factors among the primary health care workers in Bahar city.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2007, 182 primary health care workers of Bahar city participated. Data were collected using a questionnaire and SPSS software, Chi square and Logistic regression tests were applied for data analysis.ResultsThe prevalence of occupational injuries among the participants was 57.7%. The highest exposure rate was associated with injection needles (84.8%) and the most frequent process leading to an injury was recapping (28.6%). The most prevalent occupational injuries were observed among lab experts (91.6%) and nurses (71.4%) (P<0.05). 90.5 percent of the exposed group had only washed the injured place with soap. The risk of occupational injuries increased as the work experience increased (OR=1.07, CI=1.03-1.12). There were no significant relationshipbetween employees' sex and age with occupational injuries.ConclusionAccording to the results of this study, there is a high prevalence of occupational injuries among primary health care workers of Bahar city. Hence, educating the transmission routs of blood-borne infections, applying standard precautions and increasing protection strategies must be taken into consideration.