Abstract
Background: Workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients and visitors was a persistence problem worldwide. Prevalence estimates varied vastly across studies and lack of quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies. This review aimed to quantify pooled 1-year prevalence estimates at the global and regional levels. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in the databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Embase between January 1, 2000 and October 8, 2018. Studies providing information about 1-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 I2 values. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. Results: 65 eligible studies reported 1-year prevalence estimates for 61800 health care professionals from 30 countries. The pooled 1-year prevalence of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors was 19·33% (95%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. Meta-regression showed sample size, type of health care setting and quality score were significant moderators for heterogeneity. Conclusions: 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. Funding Statement: The Ministry of Science and Technology of China. (Grant NO: 2016YFC0900802). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.
Highlights
Workplace physical violence against health care professionals has been a persistent problem of health care environment worldwide [1,2]
For the regional level, pooled one-year prevalence of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors was 26.38% in the European region, 23.61% in the Americas region, 20.71% in the African region, 17.07% in the eastern Mediterranean region, 14.53% in the Western Pacific region, and 5.62% in the Southeast Asia region
Using meta-analytical methods, we pooled the one-year prevalence estimates of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors reported in 65 studies published between 2000 and 2018
Summary
Workplace physical violence against health care professionals has been a persistent problem of health care environment worldwide [1,2]. Of workplace assaults victims were health care professionals in the United States. Workplace violence can have multiple negative consequences that result in physical consequences [5], and psychological consequences for health care professionals [6,7]. Workplace violence was associated with the intention to quit job [8], burnout [7], and decreased job satisfaction [9] among health care professionals. Those consequences of workplace violence can lead to decreased productivity and
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