KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE ABOUT NEEDLE STICK INJURY TOWARDS PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT AMONG CLINICAL STUDENTS AT PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN CYBERJAYA, MALAYSIA

Introduction: Needle stick injury has been proven to be one of the modes of transmitting blood-borne viruses. Previous studies showed a high prevalence of needle stick injury among medical students during clinical activities due to a lack of knowledge. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of needle stick injury among clinical students and the association between knowledge-attitude and knowledge-practice of needle stick injury. Methods: An online descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among clinical medical students at the University of Cyberjaya and the sample was selected using convenience sampling. Results: The majority of the respondents were female (70.9%) and year 4 students (51.7%). Only 8.6% of the respondents experienced needle stick injuries. The tasks performed during injury are mostly disposal of needles (3.3%) and recapping needles (3.3%). The perceived cause of the injury is mostly due to lack of experience (4.6%). The majority of the respondents had a satisfactory level of knowledge (84.1%), and a satisfactory level of attitude (84.8%), and almost half of them had an average or poor level of practice (42.4%). However, there was no significant association between the level of knowledge and level of attitude and level of knowledge and level of practice (p>0.05). Conclusion: The majority of clinical medical students had a satisfactory level of knowledge and attitude towards needle stick injury whereas the level of practice among them was a matter of concern. Therefore, adequate interventions toward needle stick injury precautions are needed to improve the level of practice among clinical medical students.