Prevalence of Occupational Health Problems among Female Hospital Health Assistants Working in a Rural Hospital, Ramanagara District, Karnataka

The objective of this study was to investigate occupational injuries and associated factors among female health assistants working in a rural hospital in Karnataka. All the health assistants (46) working in a rural hospital were interviewed utilizing a schedule, adapted from Occupational Health Manual. Simple descriptive statistics and tests of association were performed. Among all the health assistants surveyed, 33 (71.7 per cent) of the employees were exposed to blood and body fluids, 27 (58.7 per cent) reported history of needle-stick injuries in the last three months. Stress, headache and back pain were most common complaints –28 (60.9 per cent), 25 (54.3 per cent) and 24 (52.2 per cent), respectively. The number of workers who had anaemia was 35 (76.1 per cent) and 20 (43.4 per cent) workers were underweight with a body mass index (BMI) less than 18.5. The work-related stress and musculoskeletal disorders were found to be high. Health education on ergonomics and the promotion of consistent use of personal protective equipments may help reduce the incidence of musculoskeletal and needle-stick injuries.
Source: Journal of Health Management - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Articles Source Type: research