The Epidemiology of Needlestick and Sharp Instrument Accidents in a Nigerian Hospital

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Abstract
Objectives: To characterize the epidemiology of percutaneous injuries of healthcare workers (HCWs) in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.Design: A cross-sectional survey of a randorn sample of HCWs regarding details of needle-stick and sharp instrument injuries within the previous yearSetting: University hospital and clinics in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.Participants: Hospital personnel with potential occupational exposure to patients' blood.Results: Needlestick accidents during the previous year were reported by 27% of 474 HCWs, including 100% of dentists, 81% of surgeons, 32% of nonsurgical physicians, and 31% of nursing staff. The rate of needlestick injuries was 0.6 per person-year overall: 2.3 for dentists, 2.3 for surgeons, 0.4 for nonsurgical physicians, and 0.6 for nursing staff. Circumstances associated with needlestick injuries included unexpected patient movement in 29%, handling or disposal of used needles in 23%, needle recapping in 18%, accidental stick by a colleague in and needle disassembly in 10%. Sharp instrument injuries were reported by 15% of and most commonly involved broken glass patient specimen containers (39%). Almost all were aware of the potential risk of HIV transmission through percutaneous injuries, and 91% considered themselves very concerned about their occupational risk of HIV acquisition.Conclusions: The high frequency of percutaneous exposure to blood among HCWs in this Nigerian hospital potentially could be reduced by simple interventions at modest cost.