The prevalence and causes of needle stick injuries among the primary health care workers of Bahar city, Hamadan Province

Background and aimsDue to occupational exposures, primary health care workers are more at risk of blood- borne infections such as AIDS, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. This study was conducted to determine the frequency of occupational injuries and its related factors among the primary health care workers in Bahar city.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, conducted in 2007, 182 primary health care workers of Bahar city participated. Data were collected using a questionnaire and SPSS software, Chi square and Logistic regression tests were applied for data analysis.ResultsThe prevalence of occupational injuries among the participants was 57.7%. The highest exposure rate was associated with injection needles (84.8%) and the most frequent process leading to an injury was recapping (28.6%). The most prevalent occupational injuries were observed among lab experts (91.6%) and nurses (71.4%) (P<0.05). 90.5 percent of the exposed group had only washed the injured place with soap. The risk of occupational injuries increased as the work experience increased (OR=1.07, CI=1.03-1.12). There were no significant relationshipbetween employee's sex and age with occupational injuries.ConclusionsAccording to the results of this study, there is a high prevalence of occupational injuries among primary health care workers of Bahar city. Hence, educating the transmission routs of blood-borne infections, applying standard precautions and increasing protection strategies must be taken into consideration.