Work

Sharp injuries to blood-borne pathogens among healthcare workers and influencing factors in a tertiary specialist hospital (2019–2022): a retrospective study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Objective To learn the current situation of medical staff's exposure to sharp injuries in a tertiary hospital in Chengdu, analyze its influencing factors, improve the awareness of protection, and reduce the risk of exposure to sharp injuries. Methods A retrospective study was conducted on the data related to occupational exposure in a top-three hospital from 2019 to 2022. This study carried out statistical description, single factor analysis and multi-factor analysis from the aspects of gender, years of service, occupation, exposure department and so on. Results From 2019 to 2022, 151 cases of occupational exposure and 115 cases (76.16%) of sharp injuries occurred in the hospital. There were significant differences in age (P < 0.001), years of service (P = 0.04) and years of exposure (P = 0.02), but no statistically significant differences among medical personnel in occupation (P = 0.52), exposure location (P = 0.52) and exposure department (P = 0.59). The results of multi-factor analysis showed that: Medical personnel with 1 to 5 years of service had a lower risk of sharp injuries than those with less than 1 year of service (OR = 0.26, 95%CI: 0.09 ~ 0.76). In 2021, when the COVID-19 epidemic is high, the risk of sharp injuries among medical personnel is higher than that of medical personnel in 2019 (OR = 4.32, 95%CI: 1.23 ~ 18.25). In addition, the main exposure site of sharp instrument injury was the hand, and the blood pathogen of the source patients was mostly HBV. Sharp injuries mainly occur after needle removal, when sorting items and in the process of treating patients. The medical workers who had occupational exposure were followed up, and no cases of infection due to occupational exposure were found. Conclusion The hospital should strengthen occupational protection training and standardize occupational operations for medical staff with short working years Pay attention to the physical and mental health of medical personnel and strengthen training during the outbreak of emergencies to effectively reduce the incidence of sharp injuries.

Source: Scientific Reports

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-92754-7

Authors: Yuanyi Ji, Xiaoling Liu, Guishuang Song, Qiaolan Liu, Ruixin He, Yongzhong Cheng

Institutions: Sichuan University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University

Language: English

Topic: Infection Control in Healthcare

Subfield: Infectious Diseases

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,690