Factors associated with clinical veterinarians’ behavior and needs following occupational accidents

Abstract

Abstract: 

Veterinarians are exposed to numerous hazards that can lead to various types of occupational accidents (OA). Our objective was to explore factors associated with clinicians’ behavior following OA in the Province of Tucumán, Argentina. A cross-sectional study was carried out using an anonymous structured questionnaire in 210 professionals randomly chosen. The dependent variables were self-medication, continuing working after OA, medical care and days of work (yes/no) and the independent variables were years of professional practice (≤12/˃12), gender and type of practice (only large animals/only small animals/both). After screening with χ2, independent variables with P˂ 0.05 were offered to logistic regression models. Women were more prevalent in practice with small species (P˂ 0.001) and among recent graduates (P= 0.018). Most of the respondents (96.7%) had had OA, 81.4% had self-medicated, being more likely among those who worked with large animals (OR= 7.88; 95%CI 1.01-61.91; P= 0.050) and had more years of professional practice (OR= 2.20; 95%CI 1.03-4.62; P= 0.042). The majority of respondents (77.6%) had continued working while still injured, being associated with self-medication (P˂ 0.001) and years of exposure (OR= 2.98; 95%CI 1.46-6.12; P= 0.003). Those who suffered OA had 6.8±14.2 days off work (0-97 days), being longer in men (P= 0.038). Almost half of the practitioners (46.2%) required medical attention, with significant differences between types of practices (only large animals: OR= 5.36; 95%CI 2.20-13.04; P˂ 0.001; both: OR= 3.28; 95%CI 1.20-8.96; P= 0.021, only small species: control group). Similar results were recorded more years of professional activity (OR= 2.28; 95%CI 1.27-4.10; P= 0.006). Forty nine percent had lost working days, being more frequent in large animal practice (OR= 4.67; 95%CI 1.91-11.42; P= 0.001) or with both (OR= 2.96; 95%CI 1.08-8.15; P= 0.035) than among those who only worked with small species. Longer professional activity also persisted in this model as a risk factor (OR= 2.67; 95%CI 1.49-4.79; P= 0.001). In clinical veterinarians, self-medication and working injured after OA were frequent behaviors. Still, almost half of the professionals required medical attention and had lost working days. Large animal practice and the number of years of exposure were important risk factors.