title: Knowledge, awareness and practice regarding needle stick injuries in dental profession in India: A systematic review.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers remain susceptible to deadly viruses throughout the year, including blood-borne pathogens. Needle stick injuries (NSI) constitute one of the most common occupational health hazards in healthcare profession. Dental professionals are at more risk of acquiring NSI due to their limited and restricted working area. The present systematic review was carried out to determine knowledge, awareness and practice regarding NSI in dental professionals and students in India.
  
  
  METHODS
  A systematic review of cross-sectional studies available in the literature on the knowledge, attitude and practice among dental professionals and students in India was carried out. We identified relevant articles through electronic and manual search such as Pubmed and MEDLINE. Two investigators independently identified studies that were included in the review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Four articles were finally selected for inclusion in the review. All the studies were done involving dental students; 89.23% of the students had correct knowledge about NSI and 91.55% of the students had adequate level of awareness regarding its management in one of the studies. Also, 89% of students in one of the studies were aware of taking post-exposure prophylaxis after accidental NSI. In another study, 44% of the students destroyed the needles using a needle destroyer and 15% destroyed them in puncture-resistant containers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge and awareness of the dental students is adequate, although there is considerable variation in practice and management of NSI among different studies. There is a need for more studies involving dental professionals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Surgery, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Vinod
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kapoor
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Ramandeep Singh
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Gambhir
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Simarpreet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontics, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Sanjeet
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gill
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health Dentistry, Gian Sagar Dental College and Hospital, Rajpura, Punjab, India.
authors.forename: Agiapal
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singh
keywords: Awareness; dental students; injury; knowledge; needle stick; post-exposure psrophylaxis; practice