IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v17y2020i1p299-d304032.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Prevalence of Workplace Physical Violence against Health Care Professionals by Patients and Visitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Author

Listed:
  • Yi-Lu Li

    (Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China)

  • Rui-Qi Li

    (Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China)

  • Dan Qiu

    (Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China)

  • Shui-Yuan Xiao

    (Department of Social Medicine and Health Management, Xiangya School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha 410078, Hunan, China)

Abstract

Workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients and visitors has been a persistent problem worldwide. Prevalence estimates varied vastly across studies and there was a lack of quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies. This review aimed to quantify pooled one-year prevalence estimates at the global and regional levels. A systematic literature search was performed in the databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Embase between 1 January 2000 and 8 October 2018. Studies providing information about one-year prevalence of self-reported workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors were included. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated using Cochran’s chi-squared test (Cochran’s Q) and I 2 values. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. A total of 65 eligible studies reported one-year prevalence estimates for 61,800 health care professionals from 30 countries. The pooled one-year prevalence of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors was 19.33% (95% confidence interval (CI): 16.49–22.53%) and the overall heterogeneity was high across studies. We noted geographic and staff categories variations for prevalence estimates through subgroup analysis. The meta-regression showed that sample size, type of health care setting, and quality score were significant moderators for heterogeneity. One in five health care professionals experienced workplace physical violence perpetrated by patients or visitors worldwide annually. Practical intervention was needed to ensure safety of health care professionals.

Suggested Citation

  • Yi-Lu Li & Rui-Qi Li & Dan Qiu & Shui-Yuan Xiao, 2020. "Prevalence of Workplace Physical Violence against Health Care Professionals by Patients and Visitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-19, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:1:p:299-:d:304032
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/299/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/1/299/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hsiang‐Chu Pai & Sheuan Lee, 2011. "Risk factors for workplace violence in clinical registered nurses in Taiwan," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(9‐10), pages 1405-1412, May.
    2. Anja Schablon & Dana Wendeler & Agnessa Kozak & Albert Nienhaus & Susanne Steinke, 2018. "Prevalence and Consequences of Aggression and Violence towards Nursing and Care Staff in Germany—A Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, June.
    3. Rukiye Pinar & Firdevs Ucmak, 2011. "Verbal and physical violence in emergency departments: a survey of nurses in Istanbul, Turkey," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(3‐4), pages 510-517, February.
    4. Alessandra Zampieron & Marilena Galeazzo & Susanna Turra & Alessandra Buja, 2010. "Perceived aggression towards nurses: study in two Italian health institutions," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(15‐16), pages 2329-2341, August.
    5. Teris Cheung & Paul H. Lee & Paul S. F. Yip, 2017. "Workplace Violence toward Physicians and Nurses: Prevalence and Correlates in Macau," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Virve Pekurinen & Laura Willman & Marianna Virtanen & Mika Kivimäki & Jussi Vahtera & Maritta Välimäki, 2017. "Patient Aggression and the Wellbeing of Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study in Psychiatric and Non-Psychiatric Settings," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-14, October.
    7. Tak, S. & Sweeney, M.H. & Alterman, T. & Baron, S. & Calvert, G.M., 2010. "Workplace assaults on nursing assistants in US nursing homes: A multilevel analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 100(10), pages 1938-1945.
    8. Mohamad Alameddine & Yara Mourad & Hani Dimassi, 2015. "A National Study on Nurses’ Exposure to Occupational Violence in Lebanon: Prevalence, Consequences and Associated Factors," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 10(9), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Santiago Gascon & Michael P Leiter & Eva Andrés & Miguel A Santed & Joao P Pereira & María J Cunha & Agustín Albesa & Jesus Montero‐Marín & Javier García‐Campayo & Begoña Martínez‐Jarreta, 2013. "The role of aggressions suffered by healthcare workers as predictors of burnout," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(21-22), pages 3120-3129, November.
    10. Raeda Fawzi AbuAlRub & Abdullah Talal Al Khawaldeh, 2014. "Workplace physical violence among hospital nurses and physicians in underserved areas in Jordan," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(13-14), pages 1937-1947, July.
    11. Isaac Mensah Boafo & Peter Hancock, 2017. "Workplace Violence Against Nurses," SAGE Open, , vol. 7(1), pages 21582440177, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jolita Vveinhardt & Włodzimierz Sroka, 2020. "Workplace Mobbing in Polish and Lithuanian Organisations with Regard to Corporate Social Responsibility," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-28, April.
    2. María Joao Vidal-Alves & David Pina & Esteban Puente-López & Aurelio Luna-Maldonado & Aurelio Luna Ruiz-Cabello & Teresa Magalhães & Yolanda Pina-López & José Antonio Ruiz-Hernández & Begoña Martínez , 2021. "Tough Love Lessons: Lateral Violence among Hospital Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(17), pages 1-17, August.
    3. Anja Schablon & Jan Felix Kersten & Albert Nienhaus & Hans Werner Kottkamp & Wilfried Schnieder & Greta Ullrich & Karin Schäfer & Lisa Ritzenhöfer & Claudia Peters & Tanja Wirth, 2022. "Risk of Burnout among Emergency Department Staff as a Result of Violence and Aggression from Patients and Their Relatives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-15, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Anja Schablon & Dana Wendeler & Agnessa Kozak & Albert Nienhaus & Susanne Steinke, 2018. "Prevalence and Consequences of Aggression and Violence towards Nursing and Care Staff in Germany—A Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-18, June.
    2. Osama Al Khatib & Hana Taha & Lujain Al Omari & Mohammed Qussay Al-Sabbagh & Abdallah Al-Ani & Faysal Massad & Vanja Berggren, 2023. "Workplace Violence against Health Care Providers in Emergency Departments of Public Hospitals in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-11, February.
    3. Teris Cheung & Paul H. Lee & Paul S. F. Yip, 2017. "Workplace Violence toward Physicians and Nurses: Prevalence and Correlates in Macau," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Jakub Lickiewicz & Paweł Jagielski & Patricia Paulsen Hughes & Marta Makara-Studzińska, 2020. "The Gender-Related Impact of a Violence Management Training Program on Medical School Students—Preliminary Results," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-9, September.
    5. Fereshteh Najafi & Masoud Fallahi‐Khoshknab & Fazlollah Ahmadi & Asghar Dalvandi & Mehdi Rahgozar, 2018. "Antecedents and consequences of workplace violence against nurses: A qualitative study," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1-2), pages 116-128, January.
    6. Paraskevas Vezyridis & Alexis Samoutis & Petroula M Mavrikiou, 2015. "Workplace violence against clinicians in Cypriot emergency departments: a national questionnaire survey," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(9-10), pages 1210-1222, May.
    7. Bing Liu & Naixin Zhu & Huijuan Wang & Fengyu Li & Chenghao Men, 2021. "Protecting Nurses from Mistreatment by Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study on the Roles of Emotional Contagion Susceptibility and Emotional Regulation Ability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Cynthia Atamba & John Kipngetich Mosonik & David Stuckler & Lincoln Jisuvei Sungu & Cornelia Melinda Adi Santoso & Halima Habuba Mohamed, 2023. "Impact of Workplace Mistreatment on Employees’ Health and Well-Being in Chinese Firms: A Systematic Review," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, December.
    9. Kai Xing & Xue Zhang & Mingli Jiao & Yu Cui & Yan Lu & Jinghua Liu & Jingjing Zhang & Yuchong Zhao & Yanming Zhao & Ye Li & Libo Liang & Zheng Kang & Qunhong Wu & Mei Yin, 2016. "Concern about Workplace Violence and Its Risk Factors in Chinese Township Hospitals: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-11, August.
    10. Paulo Ferrinho & Mohsin Sidat & António Pedro Delgado & Eva Pascoal, 2022. "Overlooking workplace violence in health workforce planning in sub‐Saharan Africa," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1), pages 568-571, January.
    11. Anja Schablon & Jan Felix Kersten & Albert Nienhaus & Hans Werner Kottkamp & Wilfried Schnieder & Greta Ullrich & Karin Schäfer & Lisa Ritzenhöfer & Claudia Peters & Tanja Wirth, 2022. "Risk of Burnout among Emergency Department Staff as a Result of Violence and Aggression from Patients and Their Relatives," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-15, April.
    12. Magno Conceição das Merces & Julita Maria Freitas Coelho & Iracema Lua & Douglas de Souza e Silva & Antonio Marcos Tosoli Gomes & Alacoque Lorenzini Erdmann & Denize Cristina de Oliveira & Sueli Bonfi, 2020. "Prevalence and Factors Associated with Burnout Syndrome among Primary Health Care Nursing Professionals: A Cross-Sectional Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-12, January.
    13. Pei-Yu Wang & Pin-Hui Fang & Chen-Long Wu & Hsiang-Chin Hsu & Chih-Hao Lin, 2019. "Workplace Violence in Asian Emergency Medical Services: A Pilot Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-18, October.
    14. Cristina Civilotti & Sabrina Berlanda & Laura Iozzino, 2021. "Hospital-Based Healthcare Workers Victims of Workplace Violence in Italy: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-17, May.
    15. AnnMarie Lee Walton & Bonnie Rogers, 2017. "Workplace Hazards Faced by Nursing Assistants in the United States: A Focused Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-25, May.
    16. Santiago Ramírez-Elvira & José L. Romero-Béjar & Nora Suleiman-Martos & José L. Gómez-Urquiza & Carolina Monsalve-Reyes & Guillermo A. Cañadas-De la Fuente & Luis Albendín-García, 2021. "Prevalence, Risk Factors and Burnout Levels in Intensive Care Unit Nurses: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-12, October.
    17. Teris Cheung & Jolene Mui & Yuen Shan Ho & Wai Tong Chien, 2018. "A Scale for the Management of Aggressive and Violent Behaviour (C_MAVAS): Psychometric Properties Testing in Mental Health Nurses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(7), pages 1-14, July.
    18. Mareike Adler & Sylvie Vincent-Höper & Claudia Vaupel & Sabine Gregersen & Anja Schablon & Albert Nienhaus, 2021. "Sexual Harassment by Patients, Clients, and Residents: Investigating Its Prevalence, Frequency and Associations with Impaired Well-Being among Social and Healthcare Workers in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-18, May.
    19. Teris Cheung & Paul H Lee & Paul S F Yip, 2018. "The association between workplace violence and physicians’ and nurses’ job satisfaction in Macau," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(12), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Kinfong Leong & Pedro Fong & Chiufai Kuok & Lirong Meng, 2022. "Cross-Sectional Association and Influencing Factors of Job Satisfaction and Burnout Among Nurses in Macao," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:1:p:299-:d:304032. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.