Abstract:
Background: Health facilities can provide diagnostic, curative, and prognostic services for the community. While
providing services, healthcare workers can be exposed to needlestick injuries that can transmit pathogenic
organisms through body fluids.
Objective: The aim was to establish the pooled prevalence of needlestick injuries among healthcare workers
in Ethiopia.
Methods: This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted according to PRISMA guidelines. Articles
were searched from Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Scopus databases using a combination of
keywords and Boolean functions. All the searched articles were imported into the EndNote X9 software, and
then, duplicate data files were removed. Article screening and data extraction were done independently by
two authors. Data manipulation and analyses were done using STATA version 15.1 software.
Results: The analysis of 23 full-text articles showed that the prevalence of the 12-month and lifetime
needlestick injuries among the primary studies ranged from 13.2 to 55.1% and 18.6 to 63.6%, respectively. The pooled
prevalence of needlestick injuries among the Ethiopian healthcare workers was 28.8% (95% CI 23.0–34.5) and 43.6%
(95% CI 35.3–52.0) for the 12 months and lifetime, respectively.
Conclusions: The pooled prevalence of needlestick injuries among Ethiopian healthcare workers was high. Therefore,
efforts should be implemented to reduce the occurrence of injuries. Adequate protective equipment and
safety-engineered devices should be supplied for the healthcare workers. It could be more effective to reduce
the factors contributing to increased exposures through the allocation of adequate numbers of the healthcare
workforce and implementing in-service training.
Keywords: Needlestick injury, Percutaneous exposure, Occupational exposure, Healthcare worker, Ethiopia
