Frequência de exposições ocupacionais, fatores de risco associados e comportamentos inadequados pós-exposições entre estudantes de medicina e de enfermagem de uma universidade pública brasileira

Abstract

Introduction: Medical and nursing students are at risk of acquiring infections through occupational accidents due to inexperience and lack of skill in procedures with patients. Objective: To determine the frequency of occupational exposures, risk factors and inadequate post-exposure behaviors among these students in a public university of Southeastern Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in the end of the second semester of 2010. To collect demographic data and the frequency of possible occupational accidents and its characteristics, an anonymous, self-administered and semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to all medical students who were in the clinical course, and for all nursing students who had practical activities at a university hospital. This research project was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Universidade Federal de Uberlândia. Results: The questionnaire was completed by 253/320 (79.1%) medical students and 149/200 (74.5%) nursing students. Among medical students, 53 (20.9%) had suffered 73 accidents, which occurred mainly in extracurricular activities (33%); with cutting or piercing objects (56.2%); in the emergency room (39.7%); as a result of lack of technical preparation or distraction (54.8%). Among nursing students, 27 (18.1%) suffered 37 injuries, which mainly occurred with hollow needles (67.6%), in the operating room or wards (72.2%), as a result of lack of technical preparation or distraction (62.1%). Among medical and nursing students, respectively, 96.4% and 48% were dissatisfied with the instruction on exposure prevention previously; 48% and 18% did not always use personal protective equipment; 67.6% and 16.8% recapped used needles; 83.8% and 85.2% had no knowledge about the behaviors that should be performed after such exposures; 97.2% and 85.9% were unaware about the behaviors that must be taken in case of contact with body fluids of patients with HIV, HBV and HCV; and 1.4% and 18.9% officially reported injuries. Conclusions: We observed high frequency of occupational exposures among medical and nursing students, low level of knowledge about prevention and post-accidents procedures, and the need for structured training for "standard precautions" to prevent occupational exposures.