The effect of COVID‐19 on workplace violence in California's hospitals: An interrupted time series analysis

Abstract

AbstractAimThis study used California's unique Workplace Violent Incident Reporting System (WVIRS) to describe changes in workplace violence (WV) exposure for hospital‐based healthcare workers during the pandemic.DesignInterrupted time series analysis.MethodsWe compared the linear trends in weekly WV incidents reported during the period before the COVID‐19 pandemic (7/1/2017–3/20/2020) to the period following California's shutdown (3/21/2020–6/30/2021). We created mixed effects models for incidents reported in emergency departments (EDs) and in other hospital units. We used hospital volume data from the California Department of Health Care Access and Information.ResultsA total of 418 hospitals reported 37,561 incidents during the study period. For EDs, the number of reported incidents remained essentially constant, despite a 26% drop in outpatient visits between the first and second quarters of 2020. For other hospital units, weekly incidents initially dropped—parallel to a 13% decrease in inpatient days between the first and second quarters of 2020—but then continued parallel to the trend seen in the pre‐COVID period.ConclusionWV persists steadily in California's hospitals. Despite major reductions in patient volume due to COVID‐19, weekly reported ED incidents remained essentially unchanged.ImpactSurveys and media reported that WV increased during the pandemic, but it has been difficult to measure these changes using a large‐scale database. The absolute number of WV incidents did not increase during the pandemic; however, the trend in reported incidents remained constant in the context of dramatic decreases in patient volume. New federal WV prevention legislation is being considered in the U.S. California's experience of implementation should be considered to improve WV reporting and prevention.Public ContributionThere was no public contribution to this study. The goal of this analysis was to summarize findings from administrative data. The findings presented can inform future discussion of public policy and action.