Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on occupational risk for bloodborne pathogen exposure among health care providers

Subhadra Mandadi; Mark E Rupp; Barbara Wolford; Elizabeth Lyden; Rick Starlin

doi:10.1016/j.ajic.2024.11.007

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on occupational risk for bloodborne pathogen exposure among health care providers

Am J Infect Control. 2024 Nov 15:S0196-6553(24)00847-2. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2024.11.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Subhadra Mandadi¹, Mark E Rupp², Barbara Wolford³, Elizabeth Lyden⁴, Rick Starlin²

Affiliations

¹ Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE. Electronic address: smandadi@unmc.edu.
² Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.
³ Department of Employee Health, Nebraska Medicine, Omaha, NE.
⁴ Department of Biostatistics, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE.

PMID: 39551097
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajic.2024.11.007

Abstract

Background: The effect of COVID-19 (COrona VIrus Disease of 2019) pandemic on the rates and trends of needlestick and sharp injuries (NSSIs) and splash injuries (SIs) among health care providers (HCPs) is not well defined.

Methods: A retrospective study analyzed the rates of injuries among HCPs during the prepandemic (38 months) and pandemic (37 months) periods. Single interrupted time-series analysis (SITSA) was employed to assess the impact of the pandemic on injury rates.

Results: During the prepandemic and pandemic periods, 608 and 637 NSSIs and 137 and 120 SIs were reported, respectively. No statistically significant difference was identified in the median monthly rates of NSSIs (0.34 vs 0.37, P = .622) and SIs (0.075 vs 0.047, P = .094) per 1,000 inpatient days, nor their combined risk (0.439 vs 0.434, P = .449). The SITSA indicated a marginally significant trend during the pandemic, with a monthly 0.0028% decrease in NSSI/SI rates (P = .059). Subsequent SITSA revealed significant pandemic changes in NSSIs , with rates rising early (P = .016) and falling marginally later (P = .051).

Conclusions: We report no statistically significant difference in the rates of NSSIs/SIs between the prepandemic and pandemic periods. HCPs remain at risk for occupational injuries, emphasizing targeted training and well-designed infection control policies.

Keywords: Needlestick and sharp injuries; Splash injuries.