Abstract
The first or second-year postgraduate medical residents (so-called interns) are at high risk of mucocutaneous and percutaneous exposure to blood and body fluids. This study investigated the incidence and circumstanced of exposure injuries among interns in Yokohama City University Hospital. We analyzed 320 exposure injury reports from April 2007 to August 2010 (41 months). a total of 58 (18%) were reported from interns, even though the number of interns (average 70 every year) is only 5% of medical staff. The month with the highest number of reports from interns was July, unlike doctors and nurses. Anonymous questionnaire were distributed to 60 interns in 2010 October. The survey asked about the experiences of needlestick injury and post-injury reporting, and 32 (51%) responded. Of 32 respondents, 9 (28%) reported having needlestick injuries. Half of the interns failed to report the injuries to the hospital health office. Several studies show that medical staff often fail to report their injuries, which is called “underreporting”. Strategies aimed at improving reporting systems and creating a culture of reporting should be implemented by medical centers.
