scholarly journals Occupational exposure to blood and bodily fluids among healthcare workers in Serbian general hospitals

2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
Bojana Mandić ◽  
Stefan Mandić-Rajčević ◽  
Ljiljana Marković-Denić ◽  
Petar Bulat

Abstract The risk of occupational bloodborne infections (HBV, HCV, and HIV) among healthcare workers remains a serious issue in developing countries. The aim of this study was to estimate occupational exposure to bloodborne infections among general hospital workers in Serbia. This cross-sectional study was conducted in the spring of 2013 and included 5,247 healthcare workers from 17 general hospitals. The questionnaire was anonymous, self-completed, and included sociodemographic information with details of blood and bodily fluid exposure over the career and in the previous year (2012). Significant predictors of sharps injuries were determined with multiple logistic regressions. The distribution of accidents in 2012 was equal between the genders (39 %), but in entire career it was more prevalent in women (67 %). The most vulnerable group were nurses. Most medical doctors, nurses, and laboratory technicians reported stabs or skin contact with patients’ blood/other bodily fluid/tissue as their last accident. Healthcare workers from the north/west part of the country reported a significantly lower number of accidents over the entire career than the rest of the country (p<0.001). The south of Serbia stood out as the most accident-prone in 2012 (p=0.042).

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-78
Author(s):  
Neda Safaeifard ◽  
Hossein Namdar Areshtanab ◽  
Fariborz Roshangar ◽  
Hossein Ebrahim ◽  
Hossein Karimi Moonaghi ◽  
...  

Summary Generally, progress, productivity and success of any organization depends on the skills and knowledge of their manpower. Thus, better and more accurate training programs in organizations will lead to their growth and efficiency will be eventually achieved. Due to the many advances in the field of medicine, nurses are the backbone of activities in organizations of medical sciences and patient’s affairs. For this purpose, in-service training courses for employees are the most important courses in nursing. This study was conducted at the University of Medical Sciences (Tabriz-Iran) aiming to determine the preferred learning styles of nurses in in-service training courses. In this cross-sectional study, all nurses working in medical and educational centers in a university in the North West of Iran were randomly selected. To collect data, a two-part questionnaire of Kolb’s demographic and social information was used. Data was analyzed by using descriptive and analytical statistics SPSS version 17 software. A total of 470 nurses with an average age of 36.46 ± 5.77 were studied. There was a significant correlation between preferred learning styles of nurses with nursing position, employment status, and income level. There was no a significant statistical relationship between the preferred learning style of nurses with age, work experience and experience in the center. The present study shows that the highest percentage of Kolb’s learning style is related to the preferential converging learning style (57.8%). This study aimed to determine the preferred learning styles of nurse’s in-service training courses in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The results of the study showed that converging and assimilating styles were the preferred learning ones among the majority of nurses; these styles are effective and interpreted according to their profession requiring a lot of information and knowledge. Due to the dominance of converging learning style among nurses, it is recommended to use appropriate teaching methods tailored to the style including the use of diagrams, presentations, lectures and self-learning with enjoyable materials.


2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Collins C.E. Mbah ◽  
Zuberu B. Elabor ◽  
Olufemi B. Omole

Background: Healthcare workers (HCWs) are at risk of bloodborne infections from sharp instrument injuries and skin and mucous membrane exposures to contaminated blood and body fluids (BBF). While these have clinical and occupational health implications, little is known about BBF exposure and its reporting pattern in South African primary healthcare (PHC). The aim of this study was to determine the rate of BBF exposure, the extent of reporting and the reasons for not reporting among HCWs in PHC facilities in Johannesburg, South Africa.Methods: In a cross-sectional study involving 444 participants, an 18-item, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics, HCWs’ exposures to BBF in the last year, whether the exposure was reported and the reasons for not reporting. Analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square test.Results: Most participants were nurses (87.4%) and female (88.1%). About a quarter of participants (112) reported having at least one BBF exposure in the last year. Overall, there were 355 exposures, resulting in 0.8 BBF exposure per HCW per year. Of these exposures, 291 (82.0%) were not reported. Common reasons for not reporting include lack of time (42.72%), perception that the source patient was at low risk for human immunodeficiency virus (24.7%) and concerns about confidentiality (22.5%). Blood and body fluids exposures involving nurses (p 0.001), sharp instrument (p 0.001) and HCWs aged 50 years (p = 0.02) were significantly more likely to be reported.Conclusion: This study found a high rate of underreporting of BBF exposures among HCWs in PHC facilities in Johannesburg, suggesting an urgent need for interventions to improve reporting.


Author(s):  
Paul Bigala

The study investigated gender differences in attitudes towards sexuality in the context of HIV/AIDS among undergraduate students. The cross-sectional study was conducted among 1,498 randomly selected students. The majority of the students interviewed were females at 53.9% (M= 20.24, SD=2.98) compared to 46.1% males (M=21.67, SD=3.35). More Males (16%) responded in the affirmative with regard to having more than one sexual partner than female students (10%). Also, more male students (32.7%) than female students (18.6%) indicated that using condom reduces sexual pleasure and over 40% of both sets of respondents indicated that sexual intercourse should only be done between married couples. This study underscores the need to strengthen HIV/AIDS programmes to include issues on sexuality and encourage undergraduate students to attend these programmes.


2006 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 996-1000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Dastgiri ◽  
Reza Mahdavi ◽  
Helda TuTunchi ◽  
Elnaz Faramarzi

AbstractAimTo document the epidemiological features and influencing factors of obesity in the north-west of Iran, to provide baseline information for setting up a regional population-based centre to control and prevent obesity-related disorders in the area.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a total of 300 subjects were selected/studied in Tabriz, one of the major cities in Iran. Data on basic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, dietary assessment and physical activity were collected. Obesity was defined as body mass index ≥ 30 kg m− 2for both women and men.ResultsTotal prevalence of obesity in the area was 22.4% (95% confidence interval (CI): 18.0–27.6). The prevalence of obesity was 24% (95% CI: 18.5–31.4) for women and 18% (95% CI: 12.5–25.6) for men. For both women and men obesity prevalence showed a positive association with age (P < 0.001), while there was a negative correlation of obesity with education and income (P < 0.001). Fruit consumption decreased the risk of obesity in both women and men (odds ratio (OR) = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.49–0.71 vs. OR = 0.62, 95% CI: 0.51–0.74, respectively). The same significant pattern was observed for the consumption of green vegetables (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.57–0.63 vs. OR = 0.86, 95% CI: 0.77–0.98 for women and men, respectively), legumes (OR = 0.70, 95% CI: 0.59–0.84 vs. OR = 0.78, 95% CI: 0.66–0.91 for women and men, respectively) and dairy products (OR = 0.73, 95% CI: 0.61–0.91 vs. OR = 0.77, 95% CI: 0.63–0.93 for women and men, respectively).ConclusionsOur study showed that educational attainment, higher income and consumption of certain food groups (i.e. vegetables, fruits, legumes and dairy products) may decrease the risk of obesity. Our findings also indicate the crucial necessity of establishing a population-based centre for obesity in the area. The essential information is now achieved to propose to local health authorities to act accordingly. However, more population-based investigations on dietary choices are needed to develop effective preventive strategies to control overweight and obesity disorders in different regions.


Author(s):  
Eslam Moradi-Asl ◽  
Hassan Vatandoost ◽  
Davod Adham ◽  
Daryosh Emdadi ◽  
Hassan Moosa-Kazemi

Background: To investigate the diversity of the genus Aedes present in the natural areas of Ardabil Province, north-west of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from Apr to Oct 2016 in North-western of Iran. Thirty-three areas of 10 cities which are border areas were selected randomly. The larvae were collected 2 times in each month during the seasonal activities of mosquitoes and the larvae were identified morphologically according to the ap­propriate identification keys.  Results: Overall, 694 larvae were collected from four counties, from which only 7.2% were Aedes larvae. Three species of Aedes were identified which include Ae. caspius, Ae. vexans and Ae. flavescens. Aedes flavescens is reported from Ardabil Province for the first time. Conclusion: Aedes species were a high density in borderline of Iran and Azerbaijan. Therefore, the north parts of Ardabil Province are a suitable habitat for Aedes species mosquitoes. Care should be taken for vector control in the case of occurrence of any arboviruses transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes.


Author(s):  
T. Karonova ◽  
A. Andreeva ◽  
I. Nikitina ◽  
O. Belyaeva ◽  
E. Mokhova ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 822.2-822
Author(s):  
Haroon Rashid ◽  
Nick Dobbin ◽  
Smarak Mishra

Aims/Objectives/BackgroundIt is necessary for those working in emergency departments to have adequate knowledge and delivery of current sport-related concussion (SRC) management protocols including identifying patients with concussion, managing their symptoms, giving appropriate advice with regards to return to play and referring those at risk of further injuries to an appropriate service.This study aimed to establish the current practice, knowledge base and views towards SRC management of emergency department clinicians who have trained or are currently training in emergency medicine in the North West of England.Methods/DesignThis study was a multi centre, cross sectional study of 111 emergency department clinicians (EDCs) working across 15 centres in the North West of England A 21 item online survey was issued. The key questions focused on the advice given to patients on discharge, the importance of cognitive and physical rest, and knowledge of GRTP.Results/ConclusionsApproximately, 37% of the population responded to the invitation, with 111 responses included in this study. Only 27% of total respondents were aware of the Consensus Statements of Concussion in Sport guidelines, whilst 45% were unaware of any SRC guidelines. 57% of respondents had heard of a graded return to play (GRTP) protocol. Physical rest following an SRC was advised by 95% of respondents with 61% advising concomitant cognitive rest and 42% of respondents providing specific written advice. 90% of clinicians had not received any SRC training.There is a lack of knowledge amongst EDCs in the North West of England in managing and providing discharge advice according to recommendations for patients with SRC. This is likely a consequence of the limited training that these clinicians have received in managing SRC and suggests further work needs to be undertaken to educate EDCs on current SRC management guidance to ensure appropriate care and discharge advice is given to patients.


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