Occupational Exposure to HIV among Health CareWorkers in PMTCT sites in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, 2017

Abstract Background Rivers State is one of the states with high HIV prevalence rate in Nigeria. Occupational exposure to pathogen infecting blood and or body fluids of HIV/AIDS patients is attributable to HIV infections among healthcare workers. We identified the determinants of occupational exposures to HIV among healthcare workers in PMTCT sites within Port Harcourt metropolis in Rivers State. Methods Adescriptive cross-sectional study was conducted and multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 341 healthcare providers from 22 public and 22 private health facilities in PMTCT sites in the Port Harcourt metropolis. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and logistic regression models (p-value = 0.05). Results Respondents’ mean age was 35.9±SD8.4 years, 270 (80.1%) and 171(50.7%) were females and from public health facilities respectively. Prevalence of occupational exposure of healthcare workers to HIV in the past 12 months was 153 (45.0%) and 96 (63.3%) experienced such exposure more than once. Contact with potentially infectious body fluid accounted for the largest proportion 51 (33.3%) followed by needle stick prick 49 (32.6%). About 189 (56.1%) had safety information at their disposal that serves as areminder on safety precautions. The likelihood of occupational exposure was significantly higher among doctors (AOR=2.22, 95% C. I=1.16-4.25,) but lower among Environmental health workers (AOR=0.10, 95% C. I=0.02-0.46,) than Nurses/Midwives when other factors were included in the model. Conclusion Occupational exposure to blood and body fluids remains a frequent occurrence among healthcare workers in PMTCT sites in the study area. Adherence to universal precaution strategies should target all health care workers.