Document 0708
 DOCN  M9490708
 TI    Anxiety and perception of risk of HIV and hepatitis B infection among
       health-care workers reporting accidental exposures to blood and other
       body fluids.
 DT    9411
 AU    Cockcroft A; Oakley K; Gooch C; Mastin S; Occupational Health Unit,
       Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust, London,; UK.
 SO    AIDS Care. 1994;6(2):205-14. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE MED/94339211
 AB    We noticed considerable variation in anxiety among staff reporting blood
       exposure incidents and therefore undertook a study to investigate this.
       We studied 100 consecutive staff reporting blood or other body fluid
       exposures to the Occupational Health Unit. The nurse seeing the staff
       member administered a questionnaire about worries related to the
       incident, knowledge of HIV and hepatitis B transmission risks,
       perception of risk from the particular incident and predicted reaction
       of others that would be told. Level of anxiety was recorded on a visual
       analogue scale. Staff were then given information and counselling as
       usual, and asked to re-attend after a week, when the questionnaire was
       repeated. We found that the initial level of anxiety was not related to
       knowledge of HIV or hepatitis B transmission risks, but was related to
       perception of risk from the incident and to predicted reaction of others
       that would be told. The eight staff involved in exposures to known
       HIV-infected blood were not more anxious than the remainder. There was a
       reduction in anxiety between visits, which was significantly greater in
       women, in those who had a non-parental exposure and in those where the
       source patient was known. Knowledge of transmission risks also improved
       significantly between visits. This study underlines the importance of
       adequate counselling of staff who have suffered blood exposures.
 DE    Adult  Anxiety/*PSYCHOLOGY  *Blood-Borne Pathogens  *Disease
       Transmission, Patient-to-Professional  Female  Hepatitis
       B/*PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Hepatitis B Virus  Hepatitis
       C/PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  Human  HIV  HIV
       Infections/*PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  HIV
       Seropositivity/PSYCHOLOGY/TRANSMISSION  *Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
       Male  Middle Age  Needlestick Injuries/PREVENTION & CONTROL/PSYCHOLOGY
       Occupational Diseases/ETIOLOGY/*PSYCHOLOGY  *Patient Care Team  Risk
       Factors  JOURNAL ARTICLE

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