Prevalence and correlates of symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among Chinese healthcare workers exposed to physical violence: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

ObjectivesPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychological maladjustment to undergoing a traumatic event. Our aim was to measure the prevalence of PTSD among Chinese healthcare workers exposed to physical violence‚ and explore the associations of their demographic characteristics, social support, personality traits‚ and coping styles with their PTSD symptoms.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted using the Workplace Violence Scale, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised Short Scale and Trait Coping Style Questionnaire. We used convenience sampling method to collect data from March 2015 to September 2016. Healthcare workers (n=2706) from 39 public hospitals located in Heilongjiang, Hebei and Beijing provinces of China completed the questionnaires (effective response rate=84.25%).ResultsOverall, the prevalence of physical violence in the previous 12 months was 13.60% (n=2706). The prevalence of PTSD among the healthcare workers who experienced physical violence was 28.0% (n=368). Most of the victims of physical violence (50.80%) did not exhibit PTSD symptoms based on their PCL-C scores, and 47.0% did not manifest the diagnostic criteria for PTSD after experiencing physical violence. The level of PTSD symptoms was negatively correlated with their scores on the SSRS (r=−0.188, p<0.001). The hierarchical regression analysis (block 3) revealed that, in women, positive coping was significantly associated with PTSD symptoms (β=−0.376, p=0.001). However, the effect of positive coping was not significant in men.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the aftermath of physical violence contributes to the current prevalence of PTSD. The positive effects of social support on PTSD symptoms suggest that it has practical implications for interventions to promote psychological health. The healthcare workers’ coping styles influenced the development of PTSD symptoms. Therefore, adopting effective coping styles and receiving social support have potential roles in the recovery from trauma after experiencing physical violence.

Workplace violence and its aftermath in China’s health sector: implications from a cross-sectional survey across three tiers of the health system

“…The prevalence of physical violence in this study was 4.6%, which was lower than that of previous studies in China6 27 35 36 but still higher than other countries 37. Our study also found high rates of physical violence threats and exposure to Yi Nao.…”

Prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Emergency Physicians in the United States

“…32 Potential healthcare-specific risk factors for PTSD include workplace violence, bullying, the death of a child, fear of exposure to infectious disease, litigation stress, use of electronic health records, long work hours, and circadian disturbance due to night shifts. 18,[27][28][33][34][35] Bellolio et al found that working primarily night shifts and working more than 80 hours per week were predictive of burnout, but found no increased risk based on specialty when these factors were controlled. 36 One surprising finding in this study was that physicians who practiced in level II trauma centers had a higher PTSD scores than physicians working in either level I centers or level III/IV centers.…”

The Benefits of Indirect Exposure to Trauma: The Relationships among Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth, Social Support, and Resilience in Ambulance Personnel in China

“…The total possible score ranges from 12 to 66 points, with higher scores indicating stronger social support. The internal consistency coefficient of the total scale and subscales among Chinese samples ranged from 0.61 to 0.91, and the content and construct validities were both satisfactory [ 40 , 48 , 49 ]. In present study, the Cronbach’s α values for the whole scale and subscales were as follows: overall scale (10 items, α=0.777), objective support subscale (3 items, α=0.673), subjective support subscale (4 items, α=0.669), and support-seeking subscale (3 items, α=0.506).…”