Temporal Trends in Needlestick and Sharp Injury Incidence Rates During the COVID-19 Pandemic in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Korea.

Authors

Shinwon Lee, Hyesun Jang, Namjeong Park, Jeong Eun Lee, Soon Ok Lee, Chang Won Kim, WooSeog Ko, Hyunjin Son, Sun Hee Lee

Published in

Journal of Korean medical science. Volume 41. Issue 32. Pages e209. Aug 17, 2026. Epub Aug 17, 2026.

Abstract

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly impacted the healthcare workforce. This study aimed to compare needlestick and sharp injuries (NSIs) incidence between the pre-pandemic period and the pandemic period and to assess how hospital responses influenced NSI incidence among healthcare workers.
This retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital designated for COVID-19 management. We compared the incidence of NSIs before (2017-2019) and after (2020-2022) the pandemic onset. The incidence, expressed as cases per 100 full-time equivalents (FTEs) per year, was analyzed using generalized linear regression with interrupted time series analysis based on the Prais-Winsten model.
Hospital admissions (7.63%) and surgeries (7.01%) declined in the first pandemic year and continued to decrease, whereas the workforce steadily increased. A total of 844 NSIs were reported, with 475 (56.3%) before the pandemic and 369 (43.7%) during the pandemic. The overall NSI incidence (per 100 FTEs/year) declined both immediately after the outbreak (from 5.78 in 2019 to 4.58 in 2020, P = 0.530) and throughout the pandemic (from 4.58 in 2020 to 3.89 in 2022, P = 0.756). By occupation, incidence among nurses significantly decreased immediately after the outbreak (from 7.6 in 2019 to 5.2 in 2020, P = 0.035). Of the 369 NSIs during the pandemic, most occurred in non-COVID-19 care areas, with only 9 cases (2.4%) in COVID-19 care areas.
Our study observed a declining trend in NSI incidence during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely related to reduced hospitalizations, adequate staffing, optimized patient contact and infection control measures.

PMID:
42617190
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 20 Aug 2026.

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