Frequency of vaccination and exposure to needle-stick sharp injuries among a group of nurses in Turkey: A Meta regression analysis

Objectives: to determine the prevalence of needle stick sharps injuries (nssis) and the frequency of vaccination, and to determine the risk of exposure to hepatitis b virus (hbv) and hepatitis c virus (hcv) infections. methodology: we found 14 nssis-related studies conducted between january 1996 and january 2006 in turkey. out of those, 10 studies selected according to systematic review were related to vaccination. analyses were prepared using a meta regression analysis. results: in 14 case-control studies, the rate of nssis among nurses for the last year was found to be 64%. the frequency of injury among nurses aged 30 and below when compared to that of nurses aged 31 and over was 1.071-fold higher. the frequency of vaccination among nurses in the age of 30 and under was 1.01-fold lower when compared to those in the age of 31 and over. conclusions: we conclude that the prevention of nssis through education and training of nurses, especially younger nurses, is of great importance.