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Comparison of the Reporting Rate of Needlestick and Sharps Injuries by Age Group between Doctors and Nurses

Yoshimichi HIRAMITSU1)2), Muneko LEE2), Toru YOSHIKAWA2)3), Kiyoshi KIDOUCHI2)4), Toshihiro MITSUDA2)5), Mayumi AMINAKA2)6), Yumiko HOSOMI2)7), Hitomi KUROSU2)8), Hiroyuki KUNISHIMA2)9), Yuji MORISAWA2)10), Koji WADA2)11), Keita MORIKANE2)12) and Kyoji MORIYA2)13)
1)Nagoya City Public Health Research Institute, 2)The Research Group of Occupational Infection Control and Prevention, 3)National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, 4)Nagoya City Showa Health Center, 5)Tokyo Women's Medical University, 6)National College of Nursing, 7)International Safety Center, 8)National Center for Global Health and Medicine, 9)St. Marianna University School of Medicine, 10)Jichi Medical University, 11)International University of Health and Welfare, 12)Yamagata University, 13)Tokyo University


The purpose of this study was to compare the reporting rate of NSIs by age group between doctors and nurses. We requested 118 institutions participating in the Japan-EPINet Surveillance to provide data on all the reported incidents of NSIs that occurred between April 2013 and March 2015 in each institution. In total, 6,201 cases were collected from 86 institutions; of those, 4,455 cases were reported by doctors or nurses. We analyzed 3,703 cases where the source patient was identifiable (Doctors: 1,326 cases, Nurses: 2,377 cases) and calculated the percentage of NSIs where the source patient was seropositive for either hepatitis B or hepatitis C. The percentage of hepatitis seropositive NSIs for doctors (23.8%, 95%CI: 21.5-26.0%) was higher than for nurses (13.9%, 95%CI: 12.5-15.3%). Even when age adjusted, the percentage of hepatitis seropositive NSIs for doctors was significantly higher than that for nurses (p < 0.01). For nurses, the percentage of hepatitis seropositive NSIs was constant regardless of age group (p = 0.77). However, among doctors, the percentage of hepatitis seropositive NSIs was higher with increased age (p < 0.01). Several studies have proved that NSIs tend to be underreported when the source patient was seronegative. The results from this study show that the reporting rate was lower among doctors than among nurses and the reporting rate was especially low among older doctors. It is necessary to enlighten doctors about the importance of reporting all NSIs.

Key words:needlestick and sharps injuries, reporting rate, doctor, nurse, age group

e-mail: y.hiramitsu.75@gmail.com

Received: September 26, 2018
Accepted: November 9, 2018

34 (1):45─49,2019

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