Abstract
Background: Needle stick injuries (NSIs) pose serious occupational risks for health
professionals and students, with psychological and physical consequences. Despite
increased awareness, NSIs persist. Research focussing on chiropractic students’
perspectives on NSIs and related protocols is limited, in South Africa and internationally.
Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of chiropractic
students towards NSIs and related protocols.
Setting: This study was undertaken at the Chiropractic Department, University of
Johannesburg.
Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, quantitative study involving an adapted
anonymous online questionnaire was distributed to undergraduate Bachelor of Health
Sciences and postgraduate Master of Health Sciences (BHSc and MHSc) chiropractic
students. Data were analysed using frequencies, descriptive statistics and cross-tabulations
to identify relationships in the data.
Results: The respondents (n = 107; 42% response rate) had a mean age of 22.83 years and
were mostly females (76.6%), which showed high NSI knowledge (88.58%; s.d. = 9.455);
however, postgraduates scored higher overall (p < 0.001). While both groups were well
informed about risks and protocols, undergraduates emphasised the need for Hepatitis B
vaccination (p = 0.021) and reporting of unused sterile needle injuries (p = 0.010), further
highlighting variances between the cohorts.
Conclusion: Chiropractic students exhibited good NSI knowledge, postgraduates more so,
but attitudes and reporting behaviours’ varied. Enhanced, standardised education on the
urgency of reporting NSIs is recommended to improve protocol and safety practices. Future
research should explore long-term NSI protocol adherence.
Contribution: This study provides important baseline South African data on perspectives of
NSI in a chiropractic student cohort.