1. Work Related Injuries among Hospital Workers in Iringa, Tanzania 2013 Godbless Lucas – FELTP Tanzania AFENET Conference 17-22 November 2013.

2. Introduction [1/2] Work related injury (WRI) - self reported injuries experienced by a healthcare worker 12 months prior to the study WRI expose hospital workers to diseases - HIV/AIDS, HBV, HCV infections WRI should be identified and controlled – at the source- Eliminate unsafe procedures – at the path- Procedures, training, supervision – at a person- Personal protective equipments, procedures 2

3. Introductio n [2/2] Globally, injury from sharps – 37% of HBV infections; 39% of HCV infections; 4.4% of HIV infections Study of HCWs exposed to blood from HIV infected patients [1] – 80% had needle stick injury; 8% from sharp object; 7% from contaminated mucus membrane. Tanzania: WRIs accounted for 52.9% [2] Study was done to determine the prevalence of WRI after various interventions been introduced in Tanzania in 2006 3 1.Marcus et al 2.Manyele et al.2008

4. Objectives 1.To determine prevalence of work related injuries among hospital workers. 2.To identify form of injuries suffered by hospital workers based on nature of injuries, and working conditions. 3.To identify factors for occurrence of work related injuries among workers in their specific work environments. 4

5. Methods Study design - Cross-sectional study HCW at risk of injury - eligible for the study HCW who never come into contact with patients or byproducts from patients care were excluded Sample size - 300 hospital workers (Kish and Lisle formula - 1965) Study sample derived from 4 hospitals in Iringa region 5

6. Methods Selection of study subjects - simple random sampling Self administered questionnaires - Interview study subjects Data analysis – Epi info & SPSS software Chi square test – Statistical significance Multivariate logistic regression - Control for confounding Alpha - 5% level 6

7. Description of Study Participants VariableCategoryFrequencyPercent SexMale9938.4 female15961.1 Age (Years)< 287328.3 28 - 359235.8 > 359336.0 EducationPrimary/secondary11243.4 Post Secondary14656.6 CadreMedical officer2610.0 Nurse officer15560.1 Dental personnel114.3 Laboratory personnel155.8 Medical Attendants5119.8 7

8. Results Response rate – 86%, 258 study participants – 27.9% had encountered an episode of injury – 65.1% had access to health and safety guidelines – 29.7 % had attended training on health and safety – No significant difference in injury experience between the cadres of HCWs; X2(5) = 9.27; P= 0.09 8

9. 9 Description of Injury among Study Participants

10. Factors Influencing Occurrence of Injuries Variable*AOR95% CIP-Value Lower LimitUpper Limit GuidelinesHas no access1.00 Has access0.520.280.960.03 Safety trainingNever Attended1.00 Attended0.410.190.910.02 Waste containers color coded No1.00 Yes0.610.241.550.30 Length of shift> 8 hours1.00 <= 8 hours2.320.786.850.13 *controlled for age and sex 10

11. Discussion Magnitude of injuries – They were frequent (27.9%) – But lower than previous findings in TZ (52.9%) Health/safety training and access to IPC guidelines - Associated with occurrence of injuries – WRIs occur to health care workers - (Nsubuga etal, 2005) – Not involved in health and safety issues – Not appropriately trained in procedures for risk control 11

12. Conclusion Injuries mostly needle stick injuries were frequent Lack of training and access to guidelines on health and safety - major factors to injuries Reporting bias - relied on information given by study participants 12

13. Public Health Impact Reduction of injury prevalence - – 52.9% (2008) – 27.9% The MoHSW and OSHA-Tanzania – Orientation of HCWs to the guidelines – Increase knowledge and adherence to universal precautions – Establish surveillance system of cases of WRI 13

14. Acknowledgement TFELTP MUHAS MoHSW-TANZANIA AFENET CDC TFELTP RESIDENTS 14