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Hand Dexterity in Hospital Personnel with Multiple Needlestick Injuries

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

J.E. Casanova ,
G.P. Barnas ,
J. Gollup ,
S. Schmitt  and
J.S. Casanova
J.E. Casanova*
Affiliation:
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G.P. Barnas
Affiliation:
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
J. Gollup
Affiliation:
Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
J.S. Casanova
Affiliation:
Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
*
Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee County Medical Complex, 8700 W. Wisconsin Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53226
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Abstract

Objective:

To test the hypothesis that multiple needlestick injuries in hospital employees may he due to intrinsic deficits in hand dexterity.

Design:

A case-control study comparing employees with multiple reported needlestick injuries to those with none. Hand dexterity was tested using the Purdue Pegboard Test, a standardized validated test of hand dexterity.

Setting:

A 300-bed, acute care teaching hospital.

Participants:

Fifteen hospital employees who sustained four or more injuries were compared to 19 controls.

Results:

No differences were detected in hand dexterity between the case and control groups.

Conclusions:

While employees with multiple needlestick injuries accounted for 85% of reported injuries, underlying factors responsible for injuries in this high-risk subgroup do not include measurable deficits in hand dexterity.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 14 , Issue 8 , August 1993 , pp. 473 - 475
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1993

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