Occupational Exposure to Blood and Body Fluids among Health Care Workers in Gondar Town, Northwest Ethiopia: A Result from Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Health care workers are at the greatest risk of developing blood-borne diseases through occupational exposure to blood and other contaminated body fluids. Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids (BBFs) continues to be the major public health problems and serious concern for the health care force in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was aimed to determine the prevalence of exposure to blood and other body fluids and its associated risk factors among health care workers. METHODS: The institution-based cross-sectional study design was employed from January 20 to February 30, 2018. A stratified random sampling followed by a simple random sampling technique was used to select 286 study participants. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with occupational exposure to BBFs. The significance level was obtained at a 95% confidence interval (CI) and p value ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: The prevalence of occupational exposure to blood and body fluids among health care workers in the last 12 months was 65.3% (95% CI: 59.4, 70.9). Lack of readily available personal protective equipment (adjusted odds ratio (AOR)) = 3.01, 95% CI: 1.56, 5.84), lack of training (AOR = 3.36, 95% CI: 1.1, 11.2), Khat chewing (AOR = 2.74, 95% CI: 1.3, 5.8), and being a medical doctor (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI: 1.68, 15.21) were significantly associated risk factors with occupational exposure to blood and other body fluids. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, occupational exposure to blood and other body fluids among health care workers remains a major health problem. Hence, ensuring the availability of personal protective equipment, developing strategies on banning, and strict monitoring of Khat chewing and training on infection prevention should be emphasized to minimize the problem.