Underreporting of occupational blood and body fluid exposure in French university hospitals in 2017

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Battail, Thibault^a | Fort, Emmanuel^{b; *} | Denis, Marie-Agnès^{b; c} | Fassier, Jean-Baptiste^{b; c} | Bonneterre, Vincent^{d; e} | Dutheil, Frédéric^{f; g} | Fontana, Luc^{h; i} | Paul, Adèle^{b; c} | Botokeky, Elsa^{b; c} | Massardier-Pilonchéry, Amélie^{b; c}

Affiliations: [a] Faculty of Medicine Lyon Sud - Charles Mérieux, University of Lyon, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Lyon, France | [b] UMRESTTE, University of Lyon, Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Gustave Eiffel University, Lyon, France | [c] Department of Occupational Medicine and Occupational Diseases, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Centre Hospitalier Lyon Sud, Lyon, France | [d] TIMC-IMAG, UMR, Environment and Health Prediction of Population (EPSP) Team, University of Grenoble, Grenoble Alpes University, Grenoble, France | [e] Department of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, Grenoble Alpes University Hospital (CHUGA), Grenoble, France | [f] LAPSCO, UMR, Physiological and Psychosocial Stress Team, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand (CHU), Clermont-Ferrand, France | [g] Occupational Diseases Center, University Hospital of Clermont-Ferrand (CHU), Clermont-Ferrand, France | [h] Université Jean Monnet, St Etienne, France | [i] Department of Preventive and Occupational Medicine, Saint-Etienne University Hospital Center (CHU), St Etienne, France

Correspondence: [*] Address for correspondence: Emmanuel Fort, 8 Avenue Rockefeller, 69373 Lyon Cedex 08, France. E-mail: emmanuel.fort@univ-lyon1.fr.

Abstract: BACKGROUND:Occupational blood and body fluid exposures (OBBFEs) are one of the biological risks run by health professionals, especially in hospitals. OBJECTIVE:The objectives of this study were to assess the occurrence and reporting of occupational blood and body fluid exposures (OBBFEs) in university hospital medical staff and to investigate factors associated to declared OBBFE and factors associated to reported OBBFE. METHODS:A self-administered questionnaire has been e-mailed to all junior and senior medical staff in four university hospital centers in one administrative region of France in 2017. RESULTS:292 of the 1,228 respondents declared at least one OBBFE. More than two-thirds (70.2%) were under-reporters and more than half (53.8%) non-reporters. Younger subjects, surgical specialties and other associated work accidents were risk factors for OBBFE. Considering the reporting procedure too complex was a risk factor for underreporting. CONCLUSIONS:Underreporting by hospital medical staff was a persistent phenomenon, with a high rate. The OBBFE reporting procedure needs rethinking.

Keywords: Occupational blood and body fluid exposure, occupational exposure, hospital, prevalence ratio

DOI: 10.3233/WOR-210007

Journal: Work, vol. 73, no. 4, pp. 1393-1403, 2022