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Anxiety in health care workers after exposure to potentially HIV-contaminated blood or body fluids

2002; EMH Swiss Medical Publishers Ltd.; Linguagem: Inglês

10.4414/smw.2002.09988

0036-7672

Fabian Meienberg, Heiner C. Bucher, L Sponagel, C Zinkernagel, Niklaus Gyr, Manuel Battegay,

Infection Control and Ventilation

In order to measure anxiety in health care workers (HCWs) reporting occupational exposures to potentially contaminated body fluids, we enrolled 55 HCWs in a prospective study. Percutaneous and mucous membrane exposures were most frequent. 27% of study participants estimated their risk of HIV-infection as above 1%. Personality bound anxiety was not high, but acute anxiety showed a high variability. In a multiple regression model high personality bound anxiety, lower age and being a HCW other than physician independently predicted higher acute anxiety scores. No HIV or hepatitis C virus infection occurred. HCWs encounter significant anxiety after occupational exposure to potentially contaminated body fluids despite the possibility of potent post exposure prophylaxis.