Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Dec 16, 2021; 9(35): 10937-10947
Published online Dec 16, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i35.10937
Association of overtime work and obesity with needle stick and sharp injuries in medical practice
Yong-Hsin Chen, Chih-Jung Yeh, Gwo-Ping Jong
Yong-Hsin Chen, Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Yong-Hsin Chen, Chih-Jung Yeh, Department of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Gwo-Ping Jong, Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Shan Medical University Hospital and Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung 40201, Taiwan
Author contributions: Chen YH and Yeh CJ conceived and designed this manuscript; Jong GP and Yeh CJ analyzed and interpreted the data of this study; Chen YH wrote the original draft; Jong GP and Yeh CJ reviewed and edited the manuscript; Jong GP and Yeh CJ also share equal contribution; all authors were contributed to drafting and/or revising the article, and all authors approved the final version to be published.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chung Shan Medical University Hospital on December 2, 2019 (CSMUH No: CS19137).
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE statement.
Data sharing statement: Data is available on request from the authors.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chih-Jung Yeh, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health, Chung Shan Medical University, No. 110 Section 1, Chien-Kuo Road, Taichung 40201, Taiwan. alexyeh@csmu.edu.tw
Received: February 3, 2021
Peer-review started: February 3, 2021
First decision: July 16, 2021
Revised: July 22, 2021
Accepted: September 7, 2021
Article in press: September 7, 2021
Published online: December 16, 2021
Processing time: 309 Days and 18.4 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

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.

AIM

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

METHODS

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 χ2 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.

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSION

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.

Keywords: Medical staff; Needle stick and sharps injuries; Overtime work; Healthy body weight; Obesity

Core tip: Needle stick and sharp injuries (NSIs) are complex multifactorial processes that are commonly observed in physical, psychological, and environmental fields. Therefore, preventing NSIs in medical personnel remains a critical health issue. To reduce the risk of NSIs, other factors affecting their incidence, such as medical specialty and body weight, should be analyzed. We investigated whether overtime and obesity increase the risk of NSIs. We also aimed to provide insights into the development of more effective prevention plans for NSIs. To the best of our knowledge, these findings have never been reported.