Abstract
Introduction:Health care professionals are part of a group that is more exposed to a wide range of sources of risk that are very harmful to their own health. Antineoplastic drugs are widely used to treat many different types of cancer and are very aggressive to both patients and health care professionals.Objectives:To identify occupational risks and assess knowledge in health care professionals from Porto Alegre whose work involves handling antineoplastic drugs.Methods:This was a prospective, descriptive, and cross-sectional study with qualitative and quantitative analyses. It was conducted in two stages. A questionnaire containing objective questions was administered in stage one. In stage two, observations were made during regular visits to the sites studied at different times, following a checklist based on the requirements of health regulation standards relating to handling of antineoplastic drugs.Results:A total of 40 health care professionals took part in the study, 11 nurses, 14 pharmacists, and 15 nursing and/or pharmacy technicians. Twenty-seven of them had been involved in some type of accident during their professional practice. It was also observed that the institutions were making efforts to comply with legal requirements, since 32 reported that they took part in the Program for Medical Control of Occupational Health and 29 of the employees stated they had had some type of training in the antineoplastic area.Conclusions:Exposure to antineoplastic drugs through contact, aerosols, ingestion, and inhalation was detected. Additionally, ergonomic, physical, and biological risks were also present, since working with different pathological organisms and working processes impacts on these workers’ health. Assessment of the health care professionals’ knowledge identified a lack of knowledge and weaknesses with relation to handling this class of drugs.
Highlights
Health care workers are part of a group that is more exposed to a wide range of sources of risk that are very harmful to their own health.[1]
A total of 40 health care workers who worked handling chemotherapy drugs at the three chemotherapy referral sites in Porto Alegre were recruited from January to October of 2013
Risks of accidents at work and occupational diseases can be attributed to risk factors, including ergonomic, psychosocial, chemical, physical, and biological risk factors, which can compromise productivity, the quality of care provided and workers’ health
Summary
Health care workers are part of a group that is more exposed to a wide range of sources of risk that are very harmful to their own health.[1] According to Marziale,[2] chemical factors stand out among the major risk factors. These substances are used in their different physical states as work tools by health care professionals, both when administrating and when handling medicines. Antineoplastic drugs are one of the most important classes among the chemicals employed in health care. Several studies have evaluated exposure risks and the effects antineoplastic drugs can have on health workers during administration.[3,4]
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