Underreporting of work accidents associated with blood-borne risk factors

Background: Work accidents (WA) due to percutaneous or mucocutaneous injury are frequent among health professionals. Accident notification ensures compliance with legal requirements, enabling health institutions to develop, implement and evaluate prevention strategies. This study aimed to estimate the proportion of underreporting of work accidents caused by percutaneous and mucocutaneous lesions in a hospital setting and its determinants. Methods: A self-administered questionnaire was made available to all hospital employees. The multivariate logistic regression models computed age, gender, professional category, and type of service adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results: Underreporting of WA associated with biological risk factors was high, particularly in accidents by mucocutaneous injury (80.9%). Physicians were the professional category that least reported this type of work accident (OR=4.64; 95% CI2.20-9.78). The main determinants of underreporting were underestimating the risk of transmission and the excessive bureaucracy. Conclusion: The underreporting of work accidents associated with biological risk factors was considerable, and it contributes to a high degree of uncertainty on accidents'' characterization.