Violence Against Iraqi Doctors: A Sample from the Baghdad City

Abstract

ABSTRACTPhysicians have recently become a target of workplace-violence, with rates four times higher than other workers studied. This study aimed to investigate the enormity and nature of violence directed against Iraqi doctors as well as to determine doctors’ experiences in dealing with post-violence exposure and their plans to leave country for good. In this cross-sectional study, 397-medical staff surveyed online using reproducible, validated, and piloted questionnaire over a period of four weeks. Chi-square test used to assess the association between the typology of doctors’-violence exposure and their socio-demographic and workplace characteristics. Verbal-violence is the dominant-type experienced by Iraqi physicians (84.1%) followed by threats and physical-violence (50.4% and 31.2%). Resident-doctors are most affected among work-placements for all types of violence. Significant-associations have been observed between these three types of violent attacks and many of the doctors' demographic-characteristics (P < 0.05). Violence against Iraqi doctors has become common with a steady increase since 2003. Verbal-violence is the most constantly repeated aggression, usually resulting in either threats or a physical assault, which is commonly settled by paying a large amount of money as is invariably the tribal custom for a malpractice-claim, instead of having recourse to more formal and well-established legal action.