TEMPORAL ASSOCIATION BETWEEN IMPLEMENTATION OF UNIVERSAL PRECAUTIONS AND A SUSTAINED, PROGRESSIVE DECREASE IN PERCUTANEOUS EXPOSURES TO BLOOD

To evaluate whether implementation of universal precautions was tempor ally associated with a decrease in reported parenteral exposures to bl ood, we analyzed data on self-reported parenteral injuries that were p rospectively collected at the Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health (Bethesda, MD), from 1985 through 1991. We also assessed whethe r implementation of universal precautions, in concert with initiation of a program of postexposure chemoprophylaxis with zidovudine, was ass ociated with decreased time to reporting of occupational exposures. Ou r data, possibly confounded by the occurrence of an occupational infec tion due to human immunodeficiency virus infection in 1988, nonetheles s demonstrate a temporal association between a progressive, significan t decrease in percutaneous injuries and the implementation of universa l precautions that has been sustained through subsequent years. The an alysis remains significant, regardless of the surrogate denominator ch osen for analysis. No trend toward more rapid reporting of exposures w as identified. Implementation of universal precautions appears to have contributed to decreased parenteral injuries in our hospital but did not affect reporting efficiency.