Adherence to anti-retroviral post exposure prophylaxis following needle stick injury among health care workers in Umuahia-Urban Abia State, Nigeria

4^th International Conference on HIV/AIDS, STDs and STIs

October 03-05, 2016 Orlando, Florida, USA

Ibe S N O and Onuoha N T

Federal University of Technology, Nigeria

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J AIDS Clin Res

Abstract :

This study assessed health care workers� adherence to anti-retroviral post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) following needle stick injury. The health care workers studied were Doctors, Nurses and Medical Laboratory Scientists working in health facilities in Umuahia-Urban, Abia State of Nigeria. Descriptive survey design was employed for the study while multi-stage sampling technique was used to draw a sample size of 214 from target population of 740. Instrument for data collection was structured, self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Hypotheses were tested using Chi-Square (x2) statistical test with level of significance set at 0.05. Results of the study revealed that most (90.7%) of the health workers made use of needle stick and other sharp instruments often in the course of performing their professional duties. However, the rate of needle stick injury (NSI) was low for majority (62.6%) of the respondents. Only 55.1% of them who had NSI reported the incidence, but majority (79.4%) accessed anti-retroviral drug and used it for the recommended period of time. Only 30.8% of respondents who had NSI underwent the prescribed post-exposure screening. The study concluded that adherence to anti-retroviral PEP by these health care workers was below expectation, which has implication for increased risk of HIV infection. The researchers recommended that programs to promote adherence to NSI PEP among health workers be instituted without delay by government and non-governmental organizations.

Biography :

Email: sallyibe@yahoo.com