Knowledge and Attitude of Dental Professionals, Students and Dental Auxiliary Staff Towards Needle Stick Injury and Sharp Injuries

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of dental professionals, students and auxiliary towards needle stick and sharp injury. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was carried out among 200 dental practitioners, students, and auxiliary staff using OpenEpi calculator. Final data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.0. RESULT: The result revealed that 97% of the participants had an understanding of NSI and the risks associated with it and about 87.5% participants were found to be vaccinated against Hepatitis B. In addition to that, 72% of dental healthcare workers especially the auxiliary staff (96.3%) had experienced needle stick injury and 97% of the subjects were found to have a habit of recapping the needle after use. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of dental practitioners especially the auxiliary staff concerning needle stick injury was found to be inadequate. More awareness should be raised regarding NSIs for the dental healthcare workers and practicing of universal guidelines must be emphasized greatly. KEYWORDS: Needle stick injury and sharp injuries