Olowokure Babatnde, Duggal Harsh, Armitage Lesley
Department of Public Health, South staffordshire Health Authority, Stafford, West, Midlands, UK.
Int J Environ Health Res. 2003 Jun;13(2):117-23. doi: 10.1080/0960312031000098044.
The disposal of sharps generated in the community has been identified as an area of public health and environmental health concern. While there is a large amount of literature on sharps disposal practices in healthcare settings, the sharps disposal practices of diabetic patients living at home has been poorly documented. This study describes the sharps disposal practices of diabetic patients in South Staffordshire, an English health district. A randomly selected sample of 1,348 adult (aged >or= 16 years) diabetic patients were obtained from the district population-based diabetes register. A self-administered questionnaire was posted to the sample. Non-responders received up to two reminders. A response rate of 91% was achieved. Household containers were used by: 34.1% of respondents for syringes; 35.1% for lancets; and 27.6% for needles. Sharps boxes were the least used method of sharps disposal. Many respondents indicated that they had received only verbal information on how to dispose of their sharps. Those who recalled receiving information were more likely to dispose of their sharps safely. The results of this study suggest that sharps are disposed of in the most convenient manner, into the household waste. This contributes to environmental pollution and places people at risk of physical and psychological trauma.
社区产生的锐器处理已被视为一个关乎公共卫生和环境卫生的领域。虽然有大量关于医疗机构中锐器处理做法的文献，但居家糖尿病患者的锐器处理做法却鲜有记载。本研究描述了英国卫生区南斯塔福德郡糖尿病患者的锐器处理做法。从该地区基于人群的糖尿病登记册中随机抽取了1348名成年（年龄≥16岁）糖尿病患者作为样本。向样本发放了一份自填式问卷。未回复者最多收到两次提醒。回复率达到了91%。使用家用容器处理锐器的情况如下：34.1%的受访者用于处理注射器；35.1%用于处理采血针；27.6%用于处理针头。锐器盒是使用最少的锐器处理方法。许多受访者表示，他们仅收到过关于如何处理锐器的口头信息。那些记得收到过信息的人更有可能安全地处理他们的锐器。本研究结果表明，锐器以最方便的方式被丢弃到生活垃圾中。这会造成环境污染，并使人们面临身体和心理创伤的风险。
