Sharp object injuries in health care institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Introduction: Sharp injuries are the main type of accident in health care institutions because health care workers are often exposed to the risk of injuring during their regular activities. These are most often needle-stick, scalpel or other sharp objects injuries which are often contaminated with blood or other body fluids of other persons. Such kind of injuries are important because of the exposure to blood and other body fluids, which represents a risk of intake of patogenous microorganisms from these objects into the body of the injured person. The most frequent diseases that occur as a consequence of injuring in health care institutions are viral hepatitis type B, C and HIV/AIDS. Aim of work: To investigate the frequency of injuries in health care institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Materials and Methods: This work is a cross sectional analytical study. This research is conducted using a questionnaire, made anonymously and voluntarily. Results are analysed according to age, sex structure, profession, work experience, type of object and type of exposure. Results: In our research 68% of examinees had some kind of injury at work. In 56% of cases it was a needle-stick injury. In 48% of cases blood was visible on the device. Some of them did not wear glows at the time of injuries. Examinees neglected the injury most often and over 75% of cases didn't notify anybody about the injury. The injury was rarely reported to a member of the Commission for Nosocomial infections. We need some additional researches and much more relevant data to create specific preventive measures for different working places in different health care settings. Our main goal is to reduce the risks of sharps injuries in health care professionals and to prevent blood-borne and other diseases.