Needlestick injuries among nurses of Fars province, Iran.
OBJECTIVE
A prevalence survey was performed to estimate the magnitude and predictors for needlestick injury (NSI) in nurses of Fars province hospitals.


METHODS
Questionnaires were distributed in 52 hospitals to a stratified random sample of 2,118 (46.3%) nurses between April and September 2005 to collect self-reported NSI in the past 12- months.


RESULTS
Of the 1,555 nurses who returned a completed questionnaire, 49.6% (95% confidence interval [95 CI] 47.1%-52.1%) recalled at least one sharps injury, of which 52.6% were classified as NSI. Just over one fourth (26.3%; 95 CI 24.1%-28.6%, 409/1,555) of respondents sustained at least one NSI, 75.6% (95 CI 71.1%-79.6%) recalled having sustained between 1 and 4 injuries in the past 12-months, of which 72.2% involved a hollow-bore needle and 95.1% of injuries involved fingers. Predictors of NSI included being a registered nurse (odds ratio [OR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.1-2.3) or midwife (OR 2.4, 95% CI 1.4-3.9) compared with nurse managers, being employed in a hospital located in other cities smaller than Shiraz (OR 1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.8). Nurses who reported a previous contaminated NSI were less likely to sustain a further injury (OR 0.3, 95% CI 0.2-0.4).


CONCLUSIONS
The prevalence of NSI in Iranian nurses is high, with the majority of injured staff having sustained up to 4 NSIs in a 12-month period. Nearly all NSIs were high-risk injuries involving a hollow-bore needle. Providing nursing staff with safety-engineered devices, including retractable syringes when hollow-bore needles are to be used, will be an important step toward reducing our NSI epidemic.
Askarian
Mehrdad
M
Department of Community Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. askariam@sums.ac.ir
Shaghaghian
Soheila
S
McLaws
Mary-Louise
ML
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017848:Blood-Borne Pathogens; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009339:Needles / Q000821:virology; D016602:Needlestick Injuries / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D011482:Protective Devices; D013594:Syringes / Q000821:virology