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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Needlestick injuries (NIs) are considered a substantial occupational health and safety
hazard in contemporary health care practice. Unlike human medicine where much effort has been
devoted to reduce the incidence of these events, the same aggressive approach has not been used in
veterinary medicine. This study investigated the occurrence of blood-contaminated NIs in Portuguese
veterinarians. Participants of a veterinary meeting were asked to complete a questionnaire-based
survey. Differences in NI exposure rates by sex, years in practice, and animal interaction during childhood
were evaluated using the chi-square test. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses
were performed to produce predicted probabilities for NI episodes in veterinarians. From the total of
373 enrolled veterinarians, 293 (78.5%) reported having had at least one NI during their professional
life. Veterinarians working with dogs were more likely to have experienced a NI (adjusted odds ratio
[aOR]: 145.74, P < .001). The high level of NIs observed in these professionals shows that NIs are a
potential occupational health problem in Portuguese veterinarians, with the possibility for transmission
of haematogenous zoonosis.
Description
Keywords
Needlestick zoonoses occupational health veterinary
Citation
João R. Mesquita, Sofia I. V. Sousa, Helena Vala and Maria S. J. Nascimento (2015). The Epidemiology of Blood-Contaminated Needlestick Injuries Among Veterinarians in Portugal. Journal of Agromedicine, 20:160–166
Publisher
Taylor & Francis