Citation

Hall BJ, Xiong P, Chang K, Yin M, Sui XR. J. Epidemiol. Community Health 2018; 72(6): 516-518.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Global and Community Mental Health Research Group, The University of Macau, Macao (SAR), China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/jech-2016-208602

PMID

29475953

Abstract

Medical workplace violence (MWV) is a key occupational hazard facing medical professionals worldwide. MWV involves incident where medical staff are abused, threatened and assaulted. MWV affects the health and well-being of medical staff exposed, causes significant erosion of patient-physician trust and leads to poorer health outcomes for patients. In China, the prevalence of MWV appears to be rising. Laws were enacted to keep medical staff safe, but clear surveillance and enforcement is needed to improve the condition. In the current essay, we conducted a systematic literature review to identify secondary and tertiary prevention programmes designed to ameliorate psychological suffering following MWV. This review identified only 10 published studies. A critical gap in the intervention literature exists with regard to addressing the public health burden of MWV.

© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Language: en

Keywords

violence; work stress; workplace