Occupational accidents with sharp devices among dental undergraduate students

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of accidents among the students of Dentistry College in Federal University of Espírito Santo, Brazil, in the first academic semester of 2010. Methods:This is an observational cross-sectional analytical study, with a random sample comprising 159 students, given the opportunity to respond to a self-administered questionnaire, with 28 questions about biosafety, occupational accidents and vaccination. Results: Among 153students who filled the questionnaire, 42 students (27,5%) asserted having suffered some kind of accident. Proportion of accidents among students attending from first to fifth academic semester was 5,1% (n=2), reaching 50,7% (38 students) among the ones attending from sixth to ninth semester (p=0,000). Ten (23,8%) students reported not using individual protection equipment at the time of the accident. Only 4 (9.5%) students have registered their injury by the Occupational Accident Communication. Conclusion: The number of injured students is significant, mostly among the ones attending from sixth to ninth semester, and accidents involving needlestick or cut with sharp devices were the most prevalent.

Keywords

• Accidents
• Occupational
• Occupational Accidents Registry
• Students
• Dental
• Protective Devices