Association of overtime work and obesity with needle stick and sharp injuries in medical practice

Needle stick and sharps injuries (NSIs) may cause infections among medical personnel. Obesity and overtime work among medical personnel increase the incidence of work injuries.

To investigate whether overtime work and obesity increase the risk of NSIs.

This cross-sectional study used the data of 847 hospital personnel, including 104 doctors, 613 nurses, 67 medical laboratory scientists, 54 specialist technicians, and nine surgical assistants. Of them, 29 participants notified the hospital of having at least one NSI in 2017. The data collected included age, overtime work, body mass index, medical specialty such as doctor or nurse, and professional grade such as attending physician or resident. The χ ² and Fisher's exact tests were used to compare categorical variables. Multiple logistic regression analysis and the Sobel test were used to assess the risk of NSIs.

Overtime work, body weight, and medical specialty were significantly associated with NSIs (P < 0.05). After adjustment for risk factors, heavy overtime work was an independent risk factor for NSIs, and healthy body weight and nursing specialty were independent protective factors against NSIs. After adjustment for risk factors, medical personnel with healthy body weight has half as many NSIs as those with unhealthy body weight; the proportion of NSIs in doctors with healthy body weight was 0.2 times that in doctors with unhealthy body weight; the proportion of injuries among residents was 17.3 times higher than that among attending physicians; the proportion of injuries among junior nurses was 3.9 times higher than that among experienced nurses; the proportion of injuries among nurses with heavy overtime work was 6.6 times higher than that among nurses with mild overtime work; and the proportion of injuries among residents was 19.5 times higher than that among junior nurses. Heavy overtime work mediated the association of medical specialty with NSIs.

In addition to promoting the use of safety needles and providing infection control education, managers should review overtime schedules, and medical personnel should be encouraged to maintain a healthy weight.