Blood exposure accident among medical students

Objective - We report the results of a survey among medical students in the Strasbourg medical school, including questions standard precautions, preve ntion of blood exposure accidents, methods usually applied, and circumstanc es of blood exposure, accident they may have been victims of. Design - Anonymous questionnaire forms were handed out to second, third, an d fourth year medical students. Results - Thirty per cent of third and fourth year student who already have an experience in clinical practice described blood exposure accident durin g, their hospital training. Suture was the most frequent accident circumsta nce described (45%), blood drawing, for gas measurement was the second (24% ). Only 45% of these accidents were reported but serology control was perfo rmed in 71% of the cases. Students were questioned on the use of gloves dur ing invasive medical care, 50% of them did not use any protective gloves. S ixty seven per cent of students resheathed needles, and only 30% personally disposed of needles in special containers. Conclusion - The incidence of blood-exposure accidents in hospital medical students is high. Measures should be rapidly implemented to inform and trai n students on prevention and to teach them safe technical procedures. (C) 2 001 editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevier SAS.