325943
Resident doctors' experience of patient violene: An evaluation of the level of violence and associated factors at a university hospital in Turkey
Background and objectives: Workplace violence is considered a public health problem and is an important cause of morbidity and mortality across the world especially in the health sector where a quarter of all workplace violence is reported. This study aims at elucidating the prevalence of patient violence towards resident doctors working at a university hospital in Turkey and factors that predispose such doctors to becoming victims. Methods: This study took place at the hospitals of Hacettepe University in Ankara between March and June of 2014. Out of an eligible 208 resident doctors, 127 (61.1%) filled and returned a pre-validated questionnaires on violence. Results: Over 4 out of 5 participants (81.3%) reported being a victim of patient-originated violence at least once during their career, majority of whom (94%) were verbally abused. When the last 3 months before the study were taken into consideration, it was found that almost half (49.2%) of all participants reported some form of violence from patients or their relatives. An overwhelming majority of these violence cases were perpetrated by patient relatives (81.7%). Female doctors were victimized more commonly than male doctors (66.2% vs 33.8%). Adult psychiatrics residents were the most susceptible to patient violence with 75% reporting violence within the past 3 months prior to the study. Conclusion: This study has underlined an existing problem of violence directed towards doctors in Turkish healthcare facilities. More research is needed to elucidate associated risk factors and ways to prevent them.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Occupational health and safety
Social and behavioral sciences
Learning Objectives:
Identify the common forms of violence toward resident doctors from patients and/or patient relatives.
Explain the factors that predispose a resident doctor to violence originating from patients and/or their relatives.
List ways in which workplace violence at the hospital can be controlled or prevented.
Keyword(s): Violence & Injury Prevention, Workplace
Presenting author's disclosure statement:Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I was directly and actively involved in the design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of this particular research on violence toward resident doctors in a university hospital in Turkey. This gave me the opportunity to master the whole research work and present on it. My supervisor for this research is experienced in research in violence and took part in a nation-wide assessment of patient violence toward health professionals conducted in Turkey in 2014.
Any relevant financial relationships? No
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines,
and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed
in my presentation.
