Awareness About Needle Stick Injures and Sharps Disposal: A Study Conducted at Army College of Dental Sciences

Background The present study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude about needle stick injuries and sharps disposal. Methods A self designed questionnaire of 15 questions was handed out to 200 participants including undergraduate students (group 1), postgraduate students (group 2), faculty members (group 3) and auxiliary staff members (group 4). The data was collected and analyzed using Chi square test. Results Sixty-one percent of total participants reported of experiencing needle stick injury and 25.5 % knew that there could be several causes for this. Only 22 % of total population studied got the source tested. Immunization status of group 4 was very low and they also lacked the knowledge of sharps disposal and hepatitis C being spread by needle stick injuries. 57 % participants confirmed that there was no reporting facility and 66 % were not familiar with the guidelines of reporting. Conclusions There is a definite scope of improvement in terms of reporting and prevention of needle stick injuries. There is a need to improve knowledge and awareness of dental health care workers about the post exposure protocol.