Biomaterial Database

The epidemiology of blood-contaminated needlestick injuries among veterinarians in Portugal. 2015

João R Mesquita, and Sofia I V Sousa, and Helena Vala, and Maria S J Nascimento

a Instituto Politécnico de Viseu , Escola Superior Agrária , Viseu , Portugal.

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. 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.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D011174	Portugal	A country in southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain. The capital is Lisbon.	Madeira Island,Portuguese Republic
D011795	Surveys and Questionnaires	Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions.	Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D001769	Blood	The body fluid that circulates in the vascular system (BLOOD VESSELS). Whole blood includes PLASMA and BLOOD CELLS.
D002415	Cats	The domestic cat, Felis catus, of the carnivore family FELIDAE, comprising over 30 different breeds. The domestic cat is descended primarily from the wild cat of Africa and extreme southwestern Asia. Though probably present in towns in Palestine as long ago as 7000 years, actual domestication occurred in Egypt about 4000 years ago. (From Walker's Mammals of the World, 6th ed, p801)	Felis catus,Felis domesticus,Domestic Cats,Felis domestica,Felis sylvestris catus,Cat,Cat, Domestic,Cats, Domestic,Domestic Cat
D004285	Dogs	The domestic dog, Canis familiaris, comprising about 400 breeds, of the carnivore family CANIDAE. They are worldwide in distribution and live in association with people. (Walker's Mammals of the World, 5th ed, p1065)	Canis familiaris,Dog
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000062	Accidents, Occupational	Unforeseen occurrences, especially injuries in the course of work-related activities.	Accidents, Industrial,Industrial Accidents,Occupational Accidents,Accident, Industrial,Accident, Occupational,Industrial Accident,Occupational Accident
D000818	Animals	Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA.	Animal,Metazoa,Animalia