Introduction Workplace violence (WPV) has been defined as, “violent acts including physical assault and threats of assault directed toward personnel at work or on duty”. Healthcare staff are at highest risk of WPV among the professionals and it is more common among the critical care services. Prevalence of WPV among doctors all over the world is around 56–80% and in Indian scenario, it is around 40.8–75%. There is scarcity of studies on WPV among doctors from India. To our knowledge, this is the first of its kind survey conducted to know about the incidence of WPV amongst critical care physicians in India. Materials and Methods This survey was conducted after taking due ethical committee clearance amongst critical care physicians attending a critical care conference. The purpose of the study was informed to the participants and a pretested, self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was distributed among them for their voluntary and anonymous response. Results Out of 160 delegates who were given the questionnaire, 118 responses were collected and their forms were analyzed. Maximum responses (84%) received were of age group 20–40 years. Seventy-two percent respondents experienced WPV during their work hours. Most common type of violence reported was verbal violence (67%). Sixty-five percent respondents reported that poor communication was the leading cause of WPV. Due to WPV, most of the respondents (60%) had to change their place and pattern of work. Proper communication (76%) was the most common measure among multiple measures suggested by respondents for avoiding WPV. Eighty-three (98%) respondents opined that conflict management should be part of regular curriculum in medical education. Conclusion Improving the communication skills amongst critical care physicians, teaching doctors about conflict management in their regular curriculum of medical education, spreading awareness in public about patient rights and taking initiatives in propagating an idea to “Fight against the diseases and not against the doctors” are the key measures to combat WPV. How to cite this article Kumar NS, Munta K, Kumar JR, Rao SM, Dnyaneshwar M, Harde Y. A Survey on Workplace Violence Experienced by Critical Care Physicians. Indian J Crit Care Med 2019;23(7):295–301.

Background: Dengue viral infection is common worldwide caused by dengue virus. Recent studies have shown dengue viral infection causing encephalitis with high morbidity and mortality. The Dengue encephalitis patients usually present with altered sensorium, elevated lab parameters and high antibody titres at the time of admission. Aims: To compare initial lab parameters, clinical spectrum and outcome in patients of dengue fever with or without encephalitis. Settings and design:The study was done in a multi-speciality teaching hospital. Fourty nine patients were included in the study with febrile illness and thrombocytopenia, proved to be having Dengue fever. Material and Methods: A prospective study was conducted on 49 patients with febrile illness and thrombocytopenia proved to be having Dengue fever during a period of 6 months were included. Initial lab parameters, clinical spectrum and outcome were compared in patients with or without encephalitis. Statistical analysis used:The database of all parameters were analysed using "STATA SOFTWARE VERSION10.0". Results: 49 cases of proven dengue fever were included in the study. Among these patients 25 patients had no encephalitis and 24 patients had encephalitis. Most common clinical features in patients without encephalitis were fever with chills and rigors and in patients with encephalitis were fever with altered sensorium (P-value < 0.05). Among total 49 patients, 24 patients had encephalitis. There were no statistical difference among factors like age, sex, PCV, Platelet count, PT, and INR in these two groups (with or without encephalitis) at admission. The APTT, serum Ig-M antibodies, Ig-G antibodies, SGOT and SGPT were significantly high in encephalitis group (P-value < 0.05). All 25 dengue patients without encephalitis recovered completely without any complication. Among 24 dengue patients with encephalitis, 22 patients recovered completely (independent for activities of daily living), and 2 patients died (due to severe sepsis with MODS). Conclusions: Increased incidence of dengue fever with encephalitis in the recent years, in the absence of single sensitive test for detecting dengue encephalitis, variable CSF and MRI Brain features, and associated high morbidity and mortality, this study may be helpful in focussing on early diagnosis and aggressive initial management which can influence final outcome.