A 19-Year Study of Dental Needlestick and Sharps Injuries in Japan

Abstract

Background: Needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) are serious problems for dental health care workers (DHCWs) because they are at risk for occupational blood-borne infections. In this study, risk factors for NSIs in DHCWs at Tohoku University Hospital (TUH) in Japan over 19 years were analysed.

Methods: NSI data of DHCWs at TUH from April 2002 to March 2020 were collected from the Exposure Prevention Information Network (EPINet) and statistically analysed.

Results: A total of 195 NSIs occurred during the 19-year study period. Approximately 58.5% of NSIs occurred in DHCWs with less than 5 years of experience. Injection needles were the most frequent cause of NSIs (19.0%) followed by suture needles (13.3%) and ultrasonic scaler chips (12.8%). Needle injuries occurred mainly on the left hand, whereas ultrasonic scaler chip and bur injuries occurred on the right hand and other body parts whilst DHCWs were placing the instruments back on the dental unit hanging holder without removing the sharps. NSIs from other instruments primarily occurred on both hands and foot insteps during cleanup. No case of occupational blood-borne infection caused by NSIs was observed during the study period at TUH.

Conclusions: NSIs occurred in DHCWs with less experience, and there were associations between the instruments, timing of use, and NSI site. EPINet was considered a valuable tool for monitoring NSIs in order to develop future strategies for minimising NSIs.

Keywords: Blood-borne infection; Dental health care workers; EPINet; Long-term study; Needlestick and sharps injuries.

Fig. 1

Needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) in dental health care workers at Tohoku University Hospital (TUH) over the course of 19 years. The number of NSIs in each academic year ranged from 5 to 22 (average ± standard deviation, 10.3 ± 3.9). In 2014, most NSIs at TUH were reported by dentists and central sterilisation technicians.

Fig. 2

Sites map of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) in dental health care workers. NSIs occurred predominantly on the hands but also on other body parts.

Fig. 3

Relationship between devices and site/timing of needlestick and sharps injuries (n = 195). Fisher exact test was conducted to analyse the differences between each pair within the groups. Each P value was corrected based on the Bonferroni correction, and each initially estimated P value was multiplied by the number of times the test was conducted. Each P value presented in the result is after multiplying 3-fold. A, Relationship between devices and site of NSIs. B, Relationship between devices and timing of NSIs.