Al Ameen Journal of Medical Sciences (Oct 2011)
Needlestick Injuries among Laboratory Technicians in Diagnostic Laboratories of Kanyakumari District, India
Abstract
Background: Healthcare workers (HCW) are very prone for accidental Needlestick Injuries. Inspite of health education and interventions for prevention, needlestick injuries are still common. A production survey was performed to estimate the magnitude of needlestick injuries (NSI) among laboratory technicians of Kanyakumari district in southern Tamil nadu, India. Methods: We reviewed the surveillance data of NSI over a period of one year (December 2008–November 2009). Questionnaire were distributed to a stratified random sample of 1096 Laboratory Technicians in Diagnostic laboratories of Kanyakumari district to collect self reported NSIs. Results: Of the 986 Laboratory Technicians who returned a complete questionnaire, 212 (21.5%) sustained one NSI and 76 (7.7%) had sustained between one to four injuries in the past 12 months. The devices mainly responsible for NSI’s were hollow bore needles (n=220, 79%) solid (18%) and others (3%). Almost all injuries were caused during Blood collection procedure and Decapping or recapping of the needles and 96.4% of injuries involved fingers. Of the 288 (29.2%) laboratory technicians who sustained NSI’s, 204 (70.8%) took post exposure prophylaxis and subsequently followed up for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and Hepatitis C virus (HCV). Three technicians turned up positive, two for Hepatitis B virus and one for HIV. Conclusion: Proper education and adopting universal precautions are necessary to prevent NSI among laboratory technicians.
