Prevalence and risk factors of sharp/needlestick injuries among clinical students in a tertiary hospital in eastern Uganda

Abstract

Background

Clinical students, like healthcare workers, are at risk of sharp or needlestick injuries and potential percutaneous exposure to blood and body fluids. They can acquire infections such as HIV and hepatitis B virus (HBV) through these injuries. This study determined the prevalence and factors associated with sharp injuries among clinical students at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was carried out at Mbale Regional Referral Hospital among randomly selected clinical students. Data was entered in Microsoft Excel, cleaned, and exported to STATA version 14 for analysis.

Results

One hundred sixty (55.2%) clinical students had sustained a sharp injury in their clinical practice, with a self-reported prevalence of 46.6% in the last year. A significant proportion of these students, 93 (68.9%), experienced multiple sharp injuries. The common cause and site of injury were solid needles (72; 45%) and fingers (83.1%), respectively. Most students, 197 (67.9%), reported ward procedures not being supervised, and 124 (42%) students worked on ≥ 15 patients daily. Students who worked on ≥15 patients were more likely to sustain a sharp injury than those who attended to <15 patients daily (P = .000, OR: 6.3, 95% CI: 3.7%–10.8%).

Conclusion

This study showed a high prevalence of needlestick injuries among clinical students. The risk factors were the year of study, having not learned about infection control, and the number of patients attended to daily.