Our EXPO-STOP 2015 results, published online in July AJIC, show a small reduction in sharps injuries since 2001

181 hospitals from 34 states contributed data to EXPO-STOP 2015, making it the largest of our 6 EXPO-STOP annual surveys .

Of the 9,343 exposure reported, 71% were sharps injuries (SI) and 29% were mucocutaneous exposures. Of total sharps injuries reported, 38% were during surgical procedures.

The SI rate was 25.2 per 100 occupied beds (OB) however we concluded that “Occupied Beds” is no longer a valid denominator  as it does not include the rising number of patients seen as day cases.

We believe “FTE” is the gold standard as it includes ALL staff no matter how patients are seen – and the 2015 rate was 2.1/100 FTE – significantly less than the 2.7/100 FTE EPINet found in 2001.

But the reduction is not enough. We estimate over 300, 000 US HCW sustain SI annually – that’s 800 every day of the year!

Click here for an ‘Author Copy’ of our paper (if you are an APIC member click here for the AJIC published article ).

And our publication “5 Proven Strategies to Reduce Sharps Injuries” has now been made freely available by AOHP- click here for copy.