Temporal trends in occupational accidents involving exposure to biological material in Brazil, 2010 to 2016

INTRODUCTION: Accidents involving biological material are the main cause of occupational exposure among health care professionals. OBJECTIVES: To analyze trends in the number of accidents involving exposure to biological material among health care workers in Brazil, in the period of 2010 to 2016. METHODS: This was an ecological study based on secondary data on occupational accidents involving biological material reported to the Information System for Notifiable Diseases (Sistema Nacional de Agravos de Notificação). The data were analyzed using descriptive methods, followed by a calculation of incidence rates per 1,000 workers per year. Lastly, trend analysis was performed using Prais-Winsten regression. RESULTS: A total of 243,621 accidents involving exposure to biological materials were reported among health professionals in the study period. The highest incidence rate (16.74 accidents per 1,000 workers per year) was observed in 2014. Regional analyses showed that Midwestern, South and Southeast Brazil had higher incidence rates than other regions of the country. At the state level, the highest rates were observed in Roraima, Rio Grande do Norte, Alagoas, Goiás, Minas Gerais, São Paulo, Paraná, and Santa Catarina. National incidence rates of occupational accidents with exposure to biological material in health care workers had a stable trend over the study period. CONCLUSIONS: In Brazil, health care workers are disproportionately affected by occupational accidents with exposure to biological material. The present findings, together with other indicators, cast doubt on the stability of these figures over time.