Effect of Pricking Wound on Mental Health in Medical Workers: An Example of a Tertiary Class A Hospital in Xinjiang

Objective To investigate the occurrence of pricking wound and its effect on mental health of medical workers.

Methods By stratified cluster sampling, 432 (including 243 physicians and 243 nurses) medical staff were selected from a tertiary class A hospital in Xinjiang and were surveyed with questionnaires on demographic characteristics, pricking wound, and mental health in recent one year.

Results Statistical differences were found between physicians (44.4%, 108/243) and nurses (52.4%, 99/189) in the occurrence rate of pricking injuries (P < 0.05). Shorter service lengths (χ_trend²=10.357) and lower professional titles (χ_trend²=13.749) were associated with more pricking incidences of physicians (both P < 0.05). Compared with those without pricking wounds, the physicians with pricking wounds reported higher self-rated mental health scores of somatization, forced symptoms, depression, and anxiety (P < 0.05), and the nurses with pricking wounds reported higher scores of somatization and forced symptoms (P < 0.05). The results of multivariate linear regression analysis showed that protection factors for physicians' mental health included higher service lengths and professional titles and risk factors included pricking wound; protection factors for nurses' mental health was higher service length and risk factors was pricking wound.

Conclusion Pricking wound might affect the medical staff's mental health; therefore, strengthened mental health education is suggested.