Workplace Bullying and Its Associated Factors Among Medical Doctors in Residency Training in a Tertiary Health Institution in Plateau State Nigeria

Abstract

BackgroundBullying is public health problem globally in workplaces with untold deleterious effects on the health and well-being of individuals at the receiving end. Bullying has been found to disrupt social interaction at workplace thereby creating an unhealthy and seemingly unproductive work environment. Studies have reported varying rates of workplace bullying as high as 83% in Europe, 65% in the Americas and 55% in Asia with very little documented in the contemporary African setting and Nigeria in particular. It therefore became imperative to assess the level of bullying and its associated factors among medical doctors in residency training in a tertiary health institution in Plateau state Nigeria.MethodologyThis was a cross sectional study conducted among resident doctors in Jos University Teaching Hospital between November 2019 and February 2020 using quantitative method of data collection and SPSS version 20 was used for data analysis. Crude and adjusted odds ratios as well as 95% confidence interval were used in this study with a p-value of ≤0.05 considered statistically significant.ResultsThe mean age of the respondents was 32.3 ± 3.9 years with 78 (62.9%) being 31 years and above. Bullying was currently being experienced by 74 (59.7%) of the respondents with verbal aggression and threats as well as insult and use of derogatory remarks being the forms of bullying experienced by 85.1 and 74.3% of the respondents, respectively. Furthermore, witnessing a colleague being bullied was the sole factor found to be significantly associated with workplace bullying (AOR = 0.18; 95% CI = 0.068–0.449; p < 0.001).ConclusionWorkplace bullying has been found to be in existence and relatively high among medical doctors in residency training in this setting with witnessing someone being bullied as its sole associated factor.

Prevalence and associated factors of bullying in medical residents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Verbal aggression or verbal bullying has been reported as the most common acts of bullying in the medical workplace, although the specific acts vary. 11 Throughout bullying research, a wide variety of terms to describe negative interactions in the workplace have been used by researches, some of which not only describe bullying behaviors but also different constructs like discrimination. 23 Discrimination is the differential treatment or unequal access to opportunities based on certain characteristics, and, although discrimination has a different definition from bullying, it can lead to bullying behaviors.…”

“…The two most common acts of bullying were being repeatedly reminded of errors or mistakes and being shouted at, both of which can be categorized as verbal bullying. Verbal aggression or verbal bullying has been reported as the most common acts of bullying in the medical workplace, although the specific acts vary 11 …”

“…Prevalence of bullying in this community has been reported in primary studies before. All these studies have a wide difference in the reported prevalence, ranging from 30% to 95% 1,2,4,9–13 …”

“…All these studies have a wide difference in the reported prevalence, ranging from 30% to 95%. 1,2,4,[9][10][11][12][13] Bullying can have consequences, including emotional distress, work absenteeism, and physical and psychological harm to the victims. 6,12,14,15 These effects not only affect the victims of bullying in the medical community but also can directly and/or indirectly affect patient care, ultimately compromising patients' health.…”

“…6,12,14,15 These effects not only affect the victims of bullying in the medical community but also can directly and/or indirectly affect patient care, ultimately compromising patients' health. 11,[16][17][18][19] Attitudes in the healthcare workforce can make it difficult to identify and address instances of bullying and can perpetuate a culture of fear and hostility within medical education. In addition, the hierarchical nature of the healthcare system can make it challenging for victims of bullying to come forward and report their experiences without fear of reprisal or retaliation.…”