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Estimated Cost of Needlestick Injuries for Six Major Needled Devices

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 June 2016

Janine Jagger ,
Ella H. Hunt  and
Richard D. Pearson
Janine Jagger*
Affiliation:
University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Ella H. Hunt
Affiliation:
Employee Health Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Richard D. Pearson
Affiliation:
University of Virginia School of Medicine, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
*
Box 180 Medical Center, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22908
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Abstract

A major factor in the introduction of new products designed to decrease the risk of needlesticks to healthcare workers (HCWs) is whether the increased expense of a safer device is offset by the savings of preventing needlesticks. The itemized costs of needle-stick injuries associated with six major needled devices were estimated and compared to the cost of the devices causing the injuries, based on 1988 dollars. Included was the cost of treatment, prophylaxis and employee health department personnel time. The average cost of needlestick injury was $405, with a narrow range of $390 to $456 for different devices. As a percent of the cost of the devices, needlesticks cost as little as 10% of the cost of the device, for the intravenous (IV) catheter, to as much as 457%, for needles used to connect IV lines. On the average, needlesticks cost 36% of the devices’ cost. These data may be used to weigh the potential economic benefits of safer needle technology or other strategies intended to reduce the incidence of needlesticks.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology , Volume 11 , Issue 11 , November 1990 , pp. 584 - 588
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America 1990

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