Prevalence and risk factors associated with needle stick injuries among healthcare workers at Komamboga Health Centre III

Abstract

Needle stick injuries (NSIs) are among the common occupational hazards that health care workers experience which exposes them to contraction of blood borne pathogens leading to infections such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV and many others. Needle stick injuries remain a burden in Uganda’s health sector with less data existing to combat the hazard. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and risk factors associated with needle stick injuries among healthcare workers at Komamboga Health centre III. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July among health care workers at Komamboga Health centre III and 54 participants took part in this study. Data was collected using structured questionnaire with the help of kobo collect tool and analyzed using descriptive statistics, excel, stata and logistic regression to identify significant risk factors. The overall prevalence of NSI was 31.48% and the mean age of 29.17± 1.06 years of the participants. Males had a higher prevalence 36.36% compared to the females (28.13%), the most exposed profession were the lab technicians with a prevalence of 75% and participants with in age category of 40-49 had the highest prevalence (60%) of NSI compared to other categories. Bivariate logistic regression showed that age with in category of 30-39 (OR=0.19; 95% CI: 0.05-0.72) and 40-49 (OR=0.12; 95% CI: 0.01-0.97), some times recapping of needles (OR=4.33; 95% CI: 1.28-14.67) and some times putting on gloves (OR=0.19; 95% CI: 0.05-0.69) were significantly associated with needle stick injuries. However, on multivariate logistic regression, no factor was statistically associated with needle stick injuries. The findings confirm that needle stick injuries are prevalent among the healthcare workers. Targeted interventions focusing on regular trainings, availability of personal protective equipment, improved waste management, ensuring adequate staffing and vaccination of staff and strengthening of policies and reporting systems.