Workplace violence against physicians in Turkey’s emergency departments: a cross-sectional survey

Abstract

ObjectiveWe aimed to determine the prevalence of violence directed at emergency department (ED) physicians in Turkey and confirm the factors influencing such violence.DesignCross-sectional survey study.SettingCountry of Turkey.ParticipantsPhysicians currently practising in EDs in Turkey.Main outcome measuresThe prevalence of violence directed at physicians and factors that may influence it, such as physicians’ personal characteristics, ED characteristics and physicians’ opinions regarding the causes of and suggested methods of preventing violence.ResultsA total of 713 physicians participated. Of these, 78.1% reported being subjected to violence in the past year and 65.9% reported more than one such incident. Being subjected to violence was related to age (p=0.008), working in an ED with a high patient admission rate (p=0.018), current position (p<0.001), working outside regular work hours (p<0.001), working in a state hospital (p<0.001) and level of experience (p<0.001). Gender, type of patient typically seen, region and patient waiting period did not influence subjection to violence. The present safety precautions against violence do not appear to influence the prevalence of violence.ConclusionsOur results indicated that ED physicians’ experience of violence is related to personal characteristics such as age and level of expertise, and hospital and ED characteristics such as high patient admission rates. Presently, no measures taken to reduce this violence have been proven effective.

Prevalence, Characteristics, and Associated Factors of Workplace Violence Against Healthcare Professionals in India: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

“…4,15 Although WPV is a global health problem, recent studies have reported a higher magnitude of WPV in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). 3,[16][17][18] Critical factors including severe scarcity of human resources for health, 19 overworking and burnout in overcrowded hospitals, 20 lack of adequate facilities and logistics to deliver health services, 19,21 pre-existing sociobehavioral problems of the patients and healthcare providers, 16,19,22 high cost of availing health services, 23,24 lack of appropriate security measures, 25,26 and many more, are found to be associated with WPV in resource-constrained contexts. A high burden WPV is reported in China where about one-third of the doctors have faced some violence and thousands have been reported to be assaulted viciously.…”

Verbal and Non-Verbal Aggression in a Swiss University Emergency Room: A Descriptive Study

“…Workplace violence (WPV) by patients and visitors is a reality in many emergency departments (ED) all over the world [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. Previous studies have shown that in North America and Great Britain, 74% of doctors were victims of verbal abuse (VA) and 28% were victims of physical abuse (PA) over a one year period.…”

Doctor becomes a patient: a qualitative study of health care work place violence related perception among junior doctors working in a teaching hospital in India

“…[16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] In other parts of the world also, several studies have been conducted. [31][32][33][34][35][36][37] By means of their all India surveys, Indian Medical Association (IMA) have reported that 75% doctors had experienced violence and 82.7% felt stressed out. 3,5,10 Nonetheless, there exits a dearth of qualitative studies on this problem.…”