TY - JOUR
T1 - Sharps injuries among healthcare workers in Liberia and Ghana
T2 - a cross-sectional survey
AU - Ridge, Laura Jean
AU - Arko-Mensah, John
AU - Lambert, Josh
AU - Aziato, Lydia
AU - Zeantoe, G. Clinton
AU - Duah, Henry
AU - McCullagh, Marjorie
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/7/1
Y1 - 2024/7/1
N2 - There are little data on sharps injuries among healthcare workers in West Africa despite the region's high rate of hepatitis B and human immun-odeficiency virus. The purpose of this study is to investigate healthcare workers' history of sharps injuries in Liberia and Ghana. An electronic cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Liberia and Ghana from February to June 2022. A link to the survey was texted to participants through professional association membership lists, including nursing, midwifery, and physician assistant organizations in both Liberia and Ghana and a physician organization in Ghana only. Five hundred and nine participants reported an average of 1.8 injuries per year in Liberia and 1.1 in Ghana (P ≤ .01); 15.1% of healthcare workers reported three or more injuries in the past year. Liberia had a higher proportion of frequently injured workers (P = .01). Frequently injured workers were evenly distributed across worker types. Workers in this region are vul-nerable to sharps injuries. A frequently injured subset of workers likely has distinctive risk factors and would benefit from further investigation and intervention.
AB - There are little data on sharps injuries among healthcare workers in West Africa despite the region's high rate of hepatitis B and human immun-odeficiency virus. The purpose of this study is to investigate healthcare workers' history of sharps injuries in Liberia and Ghana. An electronic cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare workers in Liberia and Ghana from February to June 2022. A link to the survey was texted to participants through professional association membership lists, including nursing, midwifery, and physician assistant organizations in both Liberia and Ghana and a physician organization in Ghana only. Five hundred and nine participants reported an average of 1.8 injuries per year in Liberia and 1.1 in Ghana (P ≤ .01); 15.1% of healthcare workers reported three or more injuries in the past year. Liberia had a higher proportion of frequently injured workers (P = .01). Frequently injured workers were evenly distributed across worker types. Workers in this region are vul-nerable to sharps injuries. A frequently injured subset of workers likely has distinctive risk factors and would benefit from further investigation and intervention.
KW - global occupational health
KW - low- and middle-income countries
KW - occupational hazards
KW - occupational injuries
KW - sharps injury
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85199224196&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/intqhc/mzae066
DO - 10.1093/intqhc/mzae066
M3 - Article
C2 - 38978112
AN - SCOPUS:85199224196
SN - 1353-4505
VL - 36
JO - International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care
JF - International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care
IS - 3
M1 - mzae066
ER -
