The Prevalence of Needle sticks injuries among health care workers at a hospital in Tehran

ABSTRACT Needle stick injuries (NSIs) are one of the most significant and preventable hazards in relation to Healthcare workers (HCWs). Such injuries have been shown to be of high prevalence within developing countries. To determine the prevalence and circumstances pertaining to the occurrence of NSIs among HCWs employed at a special hospital. The study conducted was a cross-sectional study on HCWs and was carried out in one of Tehran's special hospitals in the year 2012. In this study, in order to identify and determine hazardous potential due to needle stick, HFMEA method was chosen. This resulted in the collection of 240 valid and reliable questionnaires. The validity and reliable nature of the questionnaires was confirmed by experts and by means of the test re-test method. The gathered data was analyzed with SPSS software, version 16.From the analysis of the data it was shown that, a total of 97 (40.42%) HCWs had suffered NSIs in the last year. The patient ward showed the highest prevalence of NSIs (47.42%) in the hospital. Nurses had the highest risk of suffering NSIs (56.7%) in comparison with the other occupational groups. All in all 175 NSIs occurred for the 240 HCWs trialed during the selected period of clinical practice. Of those that received injuries, only roughly 1 in 3 (38.14%) reported it to their infection control officer. Just over a quarter (26.80%) of the injured HCWs used post exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against HIV. Almost all (88.75%) of the HCWs had received a safe injection course. In general, NSIs and their subsequent underreporting are commonplace among hospital healthcare professionals. Significantly, more than two-thirds of the injured HCWs did not use post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) against HIV. Improved prevention and reporting strategies are needed if the occupational health and safety of healthcare workers is to improve

Toxicity assessment of chemical contaminants;transition from in vitromethods to novel in vitro methods

Exposure to occupational and environmental contaminants is a major contributor to human health problems. Despite significant achievements in the risk assessment of chemicals, the toxicological database, particularly for industrial chemicals, remains limited. Considering there areapproximately 80, 000 chemicals in commerce, and an extremely large number of chemical mixtures, in vivo testing of this large number is unachievable from ethical, economical and scientific perspectives. Therefore, increasing the number of available industrial chemicals andnew products has created a demand for alternatives to animal methods for better safety evaluation. Recent toxicity studies have demonstrated that in vitro methods are capable of rapidly providing toxicity information. In this review, current toxicity test methods for risk evaluation of industrial chemical contaminants are presented. To evaluate the potential applications of  more recent test methods developed for toxicity testing of chemical contaminants are discussed. Although  to be considered more broadly for risk assessment of human chemical exposures. In vitro methods,in vitro toxicology methods cannot exactly mimic the biodynamics of the whole body, in vitro  relationships (QSARs) and physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) models have a potentialtest systems in combination with the knowledge of quantitative structure activity

Validity and Reliability Farsi Version Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ)

Background and Aims  Tools for evaluation of code discomfort are tools that can be used for the prevention of musculoskeletal discomfort in industrial settings. Musculoskeletal disorders are serious health cancern in the developed world. The Cornell Musculoskeletal Discomfort Questionnaire (CMDQ) that are designed to evaluate the musculoskeletal disorders by the time being, are translate in diverse languages and being implemented in many coun tries. However, CMDQ is not translated into Persian language in Iran. The aim of this study was to translate, accridate and validated the CMDQ in Persian version in order to implementation of this tool in Iran and to establish the standard tool for ergonomic research.   Methods  This analytical study was performed to determine the validity and reliability of translated Persian version of the CMDQ for implementation in steel industrial settings. In order to implement this tool for Iranian workers, the Farsi version of the CMDQ was prepared using the Forward-Backward translation method. Then the translated version of the questionnaire was distribute between 100 of workers in Kashan city of steel industries in a randomized manner. In order to determine the validity for the severity of discomfort, the Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was completed by all workers. The reliability of the questionnaire was determined using Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient.     Results  In order to analysis the validity of the questionnaire for the severity of the pain and discomfort the Kappa coefficient was implemented and for the frequency of pain and discomfort the Spearman correlation coefficient was used. However, in order to analysis the reliability of the questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient 0.986 were determined. The Cronbach’s alpha Coefficient for all three sections of frequency of discomfort, severity of discomfort and interference scales were determined 0.955, 0.961, 0.969 respectively.     Conclusion The Farsi version of the CMDQ is the appropriate tool for investigation of the level of musculoskeletal disorders in Iranian workers that can be used as a part of ergonomic research and Health surveillance programs in order to prevent the musculoskeletal disorders