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Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Health care workers are exposed to numerous workplace hazards. The implementation of safety measures in high-income countries has largely mitigated these risks. However, in many low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), resources to institute safety measures are lacking, increasing the risk of occu...
Autores principales: | , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2021
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967386/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33807727 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052603 |
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author | Rai, Rajni El-Zaemey, Sonia Dorji, Nidup Rai, Bir Doj Fritschi, Lin |
author_facet | Rai, Rajni El-Zaemey, Sonia Dorji, Nidup Rai, Bir Doj Fritschi, Lin |
author_sort | Rai, Rajni |
collection | PubMed |
description | Health care workers are exposed to numerous workplace hazards. The implementation of safety measures in high-income countries has largely mitigated these risks. However, in many low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), resources to institute safety measures are lacking, increasing the risk of occupational exposures to these hazards. The aim of this scoping review is to map and synthesize the available research on occupational hazards among health care workers in LMICs, identify research gaps and inform policy. Searches for relevant articles were conducted in five electronic databases using a broad range of search terms. The inclusion criteria were: quantitative observational or experimental studies which examined exposure to one or more occupational hazards among health care workers in a LMCI; and the article was published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. A total of 99 studies met the inclusion criteria, and data were extracted from these studies. Large proportions of health care workers in LMICs were exposed to biological hazards (bloodborne pathogens, tuberculosis), psychosocial hazards (workplace violence, burnout, job dissatisfaction), ergonomic hazards (musculoskeletal complaints), and chemical hazards (exposure to latex and antineoplastic drugs). The implementation of risk reduction strategies was suboptimal. The majority of the literature was on biological hazards (48%), and research on other hazards was limited in comparison. Occupational safety needs to become a priority public health issue to protect health care workers in LMICs. More research is needed to understand the magnitude of the problem in these countries. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-7967386 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2021 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-79673862021-03-18 Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review Rai, Rajni El-Zaemey, Sonia Dorji, Nidup Rai, Bir Doj Fritschi, Lin Int J Environ Res Public Health Review Health care workers are exposed to numerous workplace hazards. The implementation of safety measures in high-income countries has largely mitigated these risks. However, in many low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), resources to institute safety measures are lacking, increasing the risk of occupational exposures to these hazards. The aim of this scoping review is to map and synthesize the available research on occupational hazards among health care workers in LMICs, identify research gaps and inform policy. Searches for relevant articles were conducted in five electronic databases using a broad range of search terms. The inclusion criteria were: quantitative observational or experimental studies which examined exposure to one or more occupational hazards among health care workers in a LMCI; and the article was published in English in a peer-reviewed journal. A total of 99 studies met the inclusion criteria, and data were extracted from these studies. Large proportions of health care workers in LMICs were exposed to biological hazards (bloodborne pathogens, tuberculosis), psychosocial hazards (workplace violence, burnout, job dissatisfaction), ergonomic hazards (musculoskeletal complaints), and chemical hazards (exposure to latex and antineoplastic drugs). The implementation of risk reduction strategies was suboptimal. The majority of the literature was on biological hazards (48%), and research on other hazards was limited in comparison. Occupational safety needs to become a priority public health issue to protect health care workers in LMICs. More research is needed to understand the magnitude of the problem in these countries. MDPI 2021-03-05 /pmc/articles/PMC7967386/ /pubmed/33807727 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052603 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Rai, Rajni El-Zaemey, Sonia Dorji, Nidup Rai, Bir Doj Fritschi, Lin Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title | Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title_full | Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title_fullStr | Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title_full_unstemmed | Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title_short | Exposure to Occupational Hazards among Health Care Workers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review |
title_sort | exposure to occupational hazards among health care workers in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7967386/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33807727 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052603 |
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