Epidemiology of Needlestick Injuries in House Officers
- 1 October 1990
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in The Journal of Infectious Diseases
- Vol. 162 (4), 961-964
- https://doi.org/10.1093/infdis/162.4.961
Abstract
Eighty-eight medical students, interns, and residents were surveyed to study the epidemiology oftheir percutaneous exposures to blood. Respondents described 159injuries in 221 person-years (py) of exposure in hospital wards and 213 injuries in 166 py of exposure in operating rooms. Nearly all injuries (>98%) were needlesticks; <5% were reported to occupational health services. Rates of ward-related injury were highest for students (O.97/py) and decreased during training. Most injuries were due to recapping of used needles. In contrast to ward-related injury, rates of operating room-related injury were relatively lowfor nonsurgical students and interns (O.3/py), higher for surgical students (1.36/py), and stable over surgical residency training (mean, 5.4/py). Virtually all surgical injuries occurred during suturing. Further research into mechanisms of needlestick injuries and product design for their prevention are needed.This publication has 2 references indexed in Scilit:
- Frequency of Puncture Injuries in Surgeons and Estimated Risk of HIV InfectionArchives of Surgery, 1989
- Needle Injuries Among Pediatric Housestaff Physicians in New York CityPediatrics, 1989