The prevalence of injuries caused by contaminated and victorious instrument and the factors affecting it

Damages caused by sharp tools is one of the most important biological threats tohealth care workers.The consequence of biological damage can be extremely dangerous and set theground for disease transmission. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and causes ofinjuries caused by contaminated sharp instruments and the performance of the medical staff workingat the 5th Azar Hospital, Gorgan, Iran, against such injuries. This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 345 medical staffworking at the operating rooms, male and female general wards, laboratory, and emergency ward ofthe 5th Azar Hospital in 2014. The study population was selected using census sampling technique.Data on the prevalence and cause of the injuries resulting from sharp instruments and post-accidentmeasures were collected through a checklist. The results were reported as percentile and percentageand analyzed using Pearson correlation and Chi-square test in SPSS software, version 16. P-valueless than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Out of the 345 members of the medical staff who were enrolled in this study, 246 individuals(69.5%) were female. The mean age of the participants was 30.9±7.8 years. The prevalence of needlestick among the medical staff was 81.3%. The most important cause of injury was needle recapping.The two important actions performed bythe subjects after the injury were washing with disinfectant(20.3%) and pressing the injury site (16.1%). Pearson correlation and Chi-square test revealed asignificant relationship between gender and injuries with sharp instruments (P=0.016). As the findings indicated, the incidence of needle stick in the medical center underinvestigation was higher than that reported in similar studies conducted in the national andinternational studies. Needle recapping was the most important cause of injury in laboratory.Therefore, it seems essential to provide the medical staff withtrainings on job skills and thestrategies for dealing with this problem to prevent such injuries.