Prevalence and associated factors of needlestick and sharp object injuries among healthcare workers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Needlestick and sharp object injuries affect healthcare workers. However, there are limitations in the evidence available for informed decision-making by stakeholders, as individual research shows inconsistent results. Therefore, this study aims to assess the pooled prevalence of needlestick and sharp object injuries and their associated factors.

Methods: MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and other databases were searched from 5 September 2023 to 10 October 2023 using the following search terms: "Prevalence" OR "Burden" OR "Magnitude" AND "Associated factors" OR "related factors" OR "Risk factors" OR "determinants" OR "Predictors" AND "Needle stick Injury" OR "Sharp Injury" OR "Health care Workers" OR " Health Care Personnel" OR "Nurses" OR "Professional" AND "Ethiopia".

Results: The pooled prevalence of needle sticks and sharp objects injury was 40.5 (95% CI: 35.0, 45.9). Needle-stick (AOR, 2.3; 95% CI: 1.6, 3.3,  < 0.001], absence of routine precaution [AOR, 2.3; 95% CI: 1.1, 4.5,  < 0.01] and lack of training (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.4, 4.1,  < 0.001) had increased odds of needle-sticks and sharp objects injury.

Conclusion: Forty percent of healthcare workers in Ethiopia have experienced needlestick and sharp object injuries. The identified factors included recapping, absence of routine precautions, and lack of training.

Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO, identifier (CRD42023462311).