Ismail Fatima, Mcleod Connor
Department of Chiropractic, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Health SA. 2025 Apr 30;30:2868. doi: 10.4102/hsag.v30i0.2868. eCollection 2025.
Needle stick injuries (NSIs) pose serious occupational risks for health professionals and students, with psychological and physical consequences. Despite increased awareness, NSIs persist. Research focussing on chiropractic students' perspectives on NSIs and related protocols is limited, in South Africa and internationally.
This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of chiropractic students towards NSIs and related protocols.
This study was undertaken at the Chiropractic Department, University of Johannesburg.
A descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study involving an adapted anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate Bachelor of Health Sciences and postgraduate Master of Health Sciences (BHSc and MHSc) chiropractic students. Data were analysed using frequencies, descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations to identify relationships in the data.
The respondents ( = 107; 42% response rate) had a mean age of 22.83 years and were mostly females (76.6%), which showed high NSI knowledge (88.58%; s.d. = 9.455); however, postgraduates scored higher overall ( < 0.001). While both groups were well informed about risks and protocols, undergraduates emphasised the need for Hepatitis B vaccination ( = 0.021) and reporting of unused sterile needle injuries ( = 0.010), further highlighting variances between the cohorts.
Chiropractic students exhibited good NSI knowledge, postgraduates more so, but attitudes and reporting behaviours' varied. Enhanced, standardised education on the urgency of reporting NSIs is recommended to improve protocol and safety practices. Future research should explore long-term NSI protocol adherence.
This study provides important baseline South African data on perspectives of NSI in a chiropractic student cohort.
针刺伤（NSIs）给卫生专业人员和学生带来严重的职业风险，会产生心理和身体上的后果。尽管人们的认识有所提高，但针刺伤仍持续存在。在南非和国际上，针对整脊学生对针刺伤及相关规程的看法的研究有限。
本研究旨在评估整脊学生对针刺伤及相关规程的知识、态度和认知。
本研究在约翰内斯堡大学整脊系进行。
一项描述性、横断面定量研究，通过一份改编后的匿名在线问卷，分发给健康科学学士本科和健康科学硕士研究生（BHSc和MHSc）整脊专业学生。使用频率、描述性统计和交叉表分析数据，以确定数据中的关系。
受访者（n = 107；回复率42%）平均年龄为22.83岁，大多数为女性（76.6%），显示出较高的针刺伤知识水平（88.58%；标准差 = 9.455）；然而，研究生总体得分更高（p < 0.001）。虽然两组都对风险和规程有充分了解，但本科生强调了乙肝疫苗接种的必要性（p = 0.021）以及报告未使用的无菌针刺伤的必要性（p = 0.010），进一步突出了两组之间的差异。
整脊学生表现出良好的针刺伤知识，研究生更是如此，但态度和报告行为存在差异。建议加强关于报告针刺伤紧迫性的标准化教育，以改进规程和安全措施。未来的研究应探讨长期遵守针刺伤规程的情况。
本研究提供了关于南非整脊学生群体中针刺伤看法的重要基线数据。
