       Document 0372
 DOCN  M9640372
 TI    Needlestick/sharps injuries and HIV exposure among health care workers.
       National estimates based on a survey of U.S. hospitals.
 DT    9604
 AU    Henry K; Campbell S; HIV/AIDS Clinic and Programs, Health-Partners St.
       Paul-Ramsey; Medical Center, USA.
 SO    Minn Med. 1995 Nov;78(11):41-4. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/96102652
 AB    Exposure to HIV in the workplace is a major concern for health care
       workers. The greatest risk for bloodborne pathogen transmission is
       associated with percutaneous injuries involving hollow-bore needles
       contaminated with patient blood. Limited data are available about how
       many sharps injuries (SIs) and needlesticks (NSs) occur in the United
       States, with estimates ranging from 100,000 to 1 million injuries per
       year. We conducted a survey of 100 infection control practitioners
       located at randomly selected U.S. hospitals to assess the number of SIs
       or NSs occurring during 1990; 65 (65%) responded. The mean number of
       NS/SIs reported was 45, with a mean of 1.1 known HIV-related NS/SIs. The
       underreporting rate was estimated to be 18.5%. Assuming that the
       hospitals provided exact numbers of injuries and were representative of
       the approximately 5,100 U.S. hospitals, then about 252,000 NS/SIs were
       reported in U.S. hospitals in 1990 (95% CI = 193,000-312,000). If the
       under-reporting rate was 33% to 66%, then the point estimate for the
       total number of NS/SIs ranges from 378,000 to 756,000. Similar
       extrapolation involving the reported number of NS/SIs contaminated with
       blood from an HIV-infected patient yields an estimate of 5,610 exposures
       in 1990 (95% CI = 1,300-8,300). The number of U.S. hospital workers
       sustaining NS/SIs with potential exposure to HIV appears to be
       considerable. Efforts to reduce the risk of bloodborne pathogen
       transmission from NS/SIs are warranted.
 DE    Bias (Epidemiology)  Cross-Sectional Studies  Disease
       Notification/STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  Disease Transmission,
       Patient-to-Professional/*STATISTICS & NUMER  DATA  Human  HIV
       Infections/EPIDEMIOLOGY/*TRANSMISSION  Incidence  Needlestick
       Injuries/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  Occupational Diseases/*EPIDEMIOLOGY  Patient
       Care Team/*STATISTICS & NUMER DATA  Risk Factors  United
       States/EPIDEMIOLOGY  JOURNAL ARTICLE

       SOURCE: National Library of Medicine.  NOTICE: This material may be
       protected by Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.Code).

