TY - JOUR
T1 - Occupational Safety in the Age of the Opioid Crisis
T2 - Needle Stick Injury among Baltimore Police
AU - Cepeda, Javier A.
AU - Beletsky, Leo
AU - Sawyer, Anne
AU - Serio-Chapman, Chris
AU - Smelyanskaya, Marina
AU - Han, Jennifer
AU - Robinowitz, Natanya
AU - Sherman, Susan G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, The New York Academy of Medicine.
PY - 2017/2/1
Y1 - 2017/2/1
N2 - At a time of resurgence in injection drug use and injection-attributable infections, needle stick injury (NSI) risk and its correlates among police remain understudied. In the context of occupational safety training, a convenience sample of 771 Baltimore city police officers responded to a self-administered survey. Domains included NSI experience, protective behaviors, and attitudes towards syringe exchange programs. Sixty officers (8%) reported lifetime NSI. Officers identifying as Latino or other race were almost three times more likely (aOR 2.58, 95% CI 1.12–5.96) to have experienced NSI compared to whites, after adjusting for potential confounders. Findings highlight disparate burdens of NSIs among officers of color, elevating risk of hepatitis, HIV, and trauma. Training, equipment, and other measures to improve occupational safety are critical to attracting and safeguarding police, especially minority officers.
AB - At a time of resurgence in injection drug use and injection-attributable infections, needle stick injury (NSI) risk and its correlates among police remain understudied. In the context of occupational safety training, a convenience sample of 771 Baltimore city police officers responded to a self-administered survey. Domains included NSI experience, protective behaviors, and attitudes towards syringe exchange programs. Sixty officers (8%) reported lifetime NSI. Officers identifying as Latino or other race were almost three times more likely (aOR 2.58, 95% CI 1.12–5.96) to have experienced NSI compared to whites, after adjusting for potential confounders. Findings highlight disparate burdens of NSIs among officers of color, elevating risk of hepatitis, HIV, and trauma. Training, equipment, and other measures to improve occupational safety are critical to attracting and safeguarding police, especially minority officers.
KW - Needle stick injury
KW - People who inject drugs
KW - Police
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U2 - 10.1007/s11524-016-0115-0
DO - 10.1007/s11524-016-0115-0
M3 - Article
C2 - 28105586
AN - SCOPUS:85009836755
SN - 1099-3460
VL - 94
SP - 100
EP - 103
JO - Journal of Urban Health
JF - Journal of Urban Health
IS - 1
ER -