Occupational Health Hazards Related to Chemotherapy among Healthcare Providers

Abstract

Many antineoplastic drugs are known to be carcinogenic, teratogenic and mutagenic to humans. There is thus a potential occupational exposure risk to cytotoxic drugs (CDs). Health care workers are exposed to these drugs in patient care settings. Aim: Assess occupational health hazards related to chemotherapy among health care providers. Sample: purposive sample composed of 70 health care providers from ambulatory settings in oncology center at Nasser Institute Hospital for research and treatment. Tools: First tool, interviewing questionnaire to assess a) socio-demographic data, b)health care providers' knowledge, c) health care providers' practices. Second tool, Auditing medical records and assessing health status. Third tool, checklist to detect health care provider's compliance towards safety measures according to chemotherapy hazards. Results: 71.4 % of the studied subjects were females. Concerning age, 47.1% of subjects were 25 - < 35 years. More than two thirds of health care providers were had weak knowledge regarding chemotherapy& health hazards. Moreover, the majority of health care providers were had not done practice regarding safety measures of protection from health hazards related to chemotherapy. Conclusion: there is more than two thirds of health care providers were had weak knowledge regarding chemotherapy& health hazards, the majority of health care providers were non- compliance toward safety measures of protection of health hazards related to chemotherapy.