Workplace violence against physicians and medical students in west part of Iran

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to survey the prevalence of exposure to workplace violence (WPV) including physical violence, verbal abuse, bullying as well as its related factors among physicians and medical students attending teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences (KUMS). Design/methodology/approach This is a descriptive analytic as well as a cross-sectional study which was carried out on all physicians (general and specialists) and medical students attending teaching hospitals of KUMS in 2014. Overall, 400 participated in this study and data were gathered using a standard questionnaire. Then, data were analyzed using SPSS 20, χ2 and Fisher’s exact tests as well as univariate and adjusted logistic regression. Findings The prevalence of physical violence, verbal abuse and bullying among medical students was reported 4.5, 59 and 0.8 percent, respectively. In addition, the prevalence of these violence among general practitioners was 6.9, 72.4 and 0 percent, respectively. Moreover, 11.5, 42.3 and 3.8 percent of specialists had experienced physical violence, verbal abuse and bullying, respectively. Patients and their relatives were the main sources of the violence. Based on the results of multivariate logistic regression, male sex (AOR=2.60, CI: 1.56–4.32) and having shift work (AOR=3.13, CI: 1.67–5.84) were the most significant risk factors for total WPV. Originality/value The WPV experienced by physicians and medical students attending teaching hospitals of MUK is high. Health sector authorities should develop and implement proper strategies and interventions aiming at reducing or preventing from incidence of WPV.