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Sharps Injuries Among Medical Trainees and Attending Physicians
Stephen D Kasteler1, Michelle Reid2, Peter C Lee3
1S.D. Kasteler is currently an occupational medicine physician and a Major, U.S. Air Force, JBSA-Lackland, Texas. At the time of writing, he was chief resident, Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency Program, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, and Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7928-4779 .
Medical trainees experience more sharps injuries than attending physicians, especially with devices lacking safety features. Training programs must prioritize prevention strategies and safer sharps devices to reduce these occupational hazards.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Medical Safety
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Sharps injuries pose a significant occupational risk to physicians, particularly during medical training.
- This study aimed to compare sharps injury rates and characteristics between medical trainees and attending physicians.
Observation:
- Data from 2002-2018 revealed 17,565 sharps injuries among physicians, with 10,525 involving trainees.
- Injuries most frequently occurred in operating/procedure rooms and involved suture needles.
- Devices without sharps injury protection features were associated with 4.4 times more injuries than those with protections.
Findings:
- Trainees sustained more sharps injuries than attendings, with significant differences in injury location, device type, and procedure.
- Sharps injuries among trainees peaked in the first academic quarter, decreasing thereafter.
- Attending physicians showed a slight but significant increase in sharps injuries over the study period.
Implications:
- Medical training programs require enhanced, multi-pronged strategies to prevent sharps injuries.
- Increased adoption of devices with built-in sharps injury prevention features is crucial.
- Comprehensive training on safe sharps handling is essential to mitigate these preventable occupational hazards.
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