Ismail G¹*, Rashed H², Abdel Aziz S³, Zaki M⁴, Bassyouni R⁵, Girgis S¹, Mohamed A⁶, Ahmad A⁷, Elzamarany E⁸, Higazi A⁹, Gala S¹⁰, Bayan N¹¹ and Abdelghaffar H¹²

¹Professor of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
²Professor of Clinical Pathology, Head of Infection Control Unit, Assiut University Hospital, Assiut, Egypt
³Assistant Lecturer of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
⁴Professor of Clinical Pathology, Director of Infection Control Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt
⁵Professor of Infection Prevention and Control Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Fayoum University, Fayoum, Egypt
⁶Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, General Director of Infection Prevention and Control, Suez Canal University Hospitals, Faculty of Medicine, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
⁷Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology, Assuit University, Assuit, Egypt
⁸Professor of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University, Al Gharbia, Egypt
⁹Assistant Professor Department of Clinical and Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Minia university, Minia, Egypt
¹⁰Becton Dickinson and Co., Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA
¹¹Becton Dickinson, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
¹²Professor of ENT, Faculty of Medicine, Helwan University, Cairo, Egypt

*Corresponding Author: Ismail G, Professor of Clinical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Received: November 29, 2022; Published: January 09, 2023

Abstract

Background: Needlestick injuries (NSIs) represent a serious health problem among health care workers (HCWs) mainly nurses as they are associated with a high risk of infection with blood-borne pathogens including hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, and human immunodeficiency virus which are associated with significant clinical, economic, psychological and societal burdens. Safety syringes were shown to minimize the rate of NSIs and accordingly reduce the associated burdens as well as improve the quality of life of HCWs.

Objectives: The main objectives of this study were to assess the economic burden of NSIs in the emergency departments of University hospitals from a societal perspective and to estimate the budget impact of introducing safety syringes to the university hospitals across Egypt.

Methodology: This was a cross-sectional observational study where data were collected from 76 nurses from eight university hospitals using a self-administered survey, including 30 questions. The economic burden of NSI was estimated by developing a population-based model, using a hybrid top-down, bottom-up approach. A budget impact analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of introducing safety syringes on a payer budget over a 3-month time horizon. The analysis included the direct cost of NSI associated with both conventional and safety syringes.

Results: The study revealed that, with an average NSI rate of 1.3 events per nurse over 3 months and a total cost of EGP 1,773 per nurse, The total economic burden of NSIs associated with conventional syringes usage was estimated to be EGP 11.3 million per 3 months. In addition to the economic burden of NSIs, 70% of the nurses reported experiencing psychological and societal impact associated with NSIs. The budget impact analysis revealed a cost-saving of EGP 4.2 million per three months with the introduction of safety syringes as compared to conventional syringes.

Conclusion: Results of the current study suggest that using conventional syringes is associated with high clinical and economic burden while the switch to safety syringes in the University hospitals in Egypt can lead to cost savings by reducing the total number of NSIs.

Keywords: Needlestick Injuries; Health Care Workers; Hepatitis

References

1. Catherine E Cooke and Jennifer M Stephens. Clinical, economic, and humanistic burden of needlestick injuries in healthcare workers (2017).
2. WHO guideline on the use of safety-engineered syringes for intramuscular, intradermal and subcutaneous injections in health care settings. Apps.who.int. (2016).
3. Talaat M. “Occupational exposure to needlestick injuries and hepatitis B vaccination coverage among health care workers in Egypt”. American Journal of Infection Control8 (2003): 469-474.
4. Munro R. “Solving the needlestick nightmare”. Nursing Times24 (2001): 12.
5. Hepatitis C Information | Division of Viral Hepatitis | CDC. Cdc.gov. (2020).
6. Hepatitis C. Who.int. (2020).
7. WHO | Regional Office for Africa (2020).
8. “Global prevalence and genotype distribution of hepatitis C virus infection in 2015: a modelling study”. Polaris Observatory HCV Collaborators. The Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology 3 (2017): 161-176.
9. WHO EMRO | Towards a hepatitis-free Egypt: is this achievable? EMHJ volume 24, 2018. Emro.who.int. 24.7 (2020).
10. Wittmann A., et al. “Needle stick injuries--risk from blood contact in dialysis”. Journal of Renal Care 2 (2007): 70-73.
11. Public price, pricing committee, central administration for pharmaceutical affairs, Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population (2018).
12. National Liver Institute Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population.
13. Central laboratories. Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population.
14. Egypt Today. “Screening reveals 732, 732 hepatitis C patients in Egypt” (2018).
15. National HIV/AIDS Programme. Egyptian Ministry of Health and Population.
16. Mostafa A and Elsisi G. “A cost-effectiveness analysis of the use of safety-engineered syringes in reducing HBV, HCV, and HIV burden in Egypt”. Expert Review of Medical Devices2 (2019): 155-163.
17. Reference of BD study.
18. Elgharably A., et al. “Hepatitis C in Egypt and ndash; past, present, and future”. International Journal of General Medicine 10 (2017): 1-6.
19. Hepatologists: HBV infection rates decreased from 8% to 4% as a result of vaccination. Youm7. (2014).
20. The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS Unaids.org. Egypt (2019).
21. Hofmann F., et al. “Needle stick injuries in health care - frequency, causes und preventive strategies”. Gesundheitswesen 64 (2002): 259-266.
22. Garus-Pakowska A and Górajski M. “Epidemiology of needlestick and sharp injuries among health care workers based on records from 252 hospitals for the period 2010-2014, Poland”. BMC Public Health1 (2019).
23. Adams D and Elliott TS. “Impact of safety needle devices on occupationally acquired needlestick injuries: a four-year prospective study”. Journal of Hospital Infection 1 (2006): 50-55.
24. Van der Molen HF., et al. “Better effect of the use of a needle safety device in combination with an interactive workshop to prevent needle stick injuries”. Safety Science8-9 (2011): 1180-1186.
25. Van der Molen HF., et al. “Interventions to prevent needle stick injuries among health care workers”. Work 41 (2012): 1969-1971.
26. Valls V., et al. “Use of safety devices and the prevention of percutaneous injuries among healthcare workers”. Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology 12 (2007): 1352-1360.
27. Whitby R and McLaws M. “Hollow‐bore needlestick injuries in a tertiary teaching hospital: epidemiology, education and engineering”. Medical Journal of Australia8 (2002): 418-422.
28. Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) 2013. Poverty indicators according to income, expenditure and consumption data 2012-2013.
29. Zakrzewska J., et al. “Introducing safety syringes into a UK dental school - a controlled study”. British Dental Journal 2 (2001): 88-92.
30. “WHO guideline on the use of safety-engineered syringes for intramuscular, intradermal and subcutaneous injections in health care settings”. WHO.

Citation

Citation: Ismail G., et al. “Economic Burden of Using Conventional Syringes and Budget Impact of Introducing Safety Syringes in Emergency Departments Across University Hospitals in Egypt”.Acta Scientific Medical Sciences 7.2 (2023): 37-43.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2022 Ismail G., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.