Future healthcare providers are facing the threat of needle stick injuries (NSIs) with the consequent risk of acquiring blood borne diseases. A cross sectional study was conducted from May 2017 to September 2017 among 327 students including medical, nursing and paramedic students from Faculty of Medicine UKM. This study aimed to determine the level of knowledge and awareness among students during their clinical years. A validated questionnaire was delivered via convenience sampling. Data was analyzed using SPSS 23 software and one sample t-test was used to compare with the standard setting value. The mean age of respondents was 23.32±2.37. The knowledge and awareness were significantly higher in both paramedic (knowledge (10.71 ± 1.64, p<0.001), awareness (5.50 ± 0.86, p<0.001), and nursing (knowledge (9.94 ± 1.38, p<0.001), awareness (5.35 ± 1.07, p<0.001) students as compared to standard setting, respectively. Meanwhile for medical students there was no significant difference in knowledge (9.95 ± 1.39, p=0.589) but significant difference in awareness (5.87 ± 1.03, p<0.001) compared to standard setting. The prevalence of NSIs was 8.3% with majority having at least one incident (85.2%) and main exposure is during medical posting (77.8%) during procedure needle recapping (70.4%) using hollow needle (63%). Incident of NSIs were mostly not reported (74.1%). Despite a significant good result on knowledge and awareness, the incidence of NSIs is alarming. Therefore, preventive steps need to be taken by the university to avoid the occurrence.
Keyword: Knowledge, Awareness, Students, Needle Stick Injury (NSI), Cross-sectional study
Study site: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM)