Prevalence of Needlestick Injuries Among Medical Students at a University in Iran

Abstract

This survey of needle stick injuries (NSIs) was the first to be conducted among medical students in Iran; it aims to establish the frequency and circumstances of NSIs and to test the students' knowledge of the reporting system. More than half (57.2%) of all 600 medical students were in clinical training, with the majority of students (301 of 343) reporting that they had received information about standard precautions. Since entering their clinical year, 238 (69.4%) of 343 students had experienced a total of 644 NSIs, yielding an NSI-to-student ratio of 1.9:1.0, over the course of, on average, 12 months (maximum, 17 months). Twenty-one percent of students had experienced 2 NSIs; 19.7% had experienced 3 NSIs, and 24.4% had experienced more than 3 NSIs, yielding an NSI-to-student ratio of 2.7:1.0. Most NSIs occurred in a patient's room during a simple procedure, such as venous sampling or intravenous injection (P<0.001). Almost all medical students (97.4%) reported routinely wearing gloves when suturing wounds, whereas glove use was poor in all other contexts. Few students (74 of 343) reported that they always used sharps containers to dispose of needles, with fewer (42 students) rarely or never practicing recapping. Most students (89.8%) had been vaccinated against HBV (95% confidence interval, 86.1%-92.8%). Post-injury prophylaxis was given to 13 students: 3 required zidovudine and 10 required gamma -globulin. Most students (63.3%) reported levels of concern about the risk of contracting a blood-borne virus, ranging from 'extremely concerned' to 'very concerned,' yet only 29.4% of students had allowed their concern to influence their decision for a residency specialty placement.