The impact of multifocused interventions on sharps injury rates at an acute-care hospital.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the impact of a multifocused interventional program on sharps injury rates.


METHODS
Sharps injury data were collected prospectively over a 9-year period (1990-1998). Pre- and postinterventional rates were compared after the implementation of sharps injury prevention interventions, which consisted of administrative, work-practice, and engineering controls (ie, the introduction of an anti-needlestick intravenous catheter and a new sharps disposal system).


METHODS
Sharps injury data were collected from healthcare workers employed by a mid-sized, acute-care community hospital.


RESULTS
Preinterventional annual sharps injury incidence rates decreased significantly from 82 sharps injuries/1,000 worked full-time-equivalent employees (WFTE) to 24 sharps injuries/1,000 WFTE employees postintervention (P<.0001), representing a 70% decline in incidence rate overall. Over the course of the study, the incidence rate for sharps injuries related to intravenous lines declined by 93%, hollow-bore needlesticks decreased by 75%, and non-hollow-bore injuries decreased by 25%.


CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of a multifocused interventional program led to a significant and sustained decrease in the overall rate of sharps injuries in hospital-based healthcare workers.
Gershon
R R
RR
Department of Environmental Health Sciences, the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, USA.
Pearse
L
L
Grimes
M
M
Flanagan
P A
PA
Vlahov
D
D
D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D006801:Humans; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D010564:Personnel, Hospital