AIMS: To review both mental and physical health consequences of bullying for healthcare employees.
DESIGN: Systematic literature review. DATA SOURCES: EMBASE, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PUBMED and Web of Science Core Collection were searched for articles published between 2005 - January 2017. REVIEW METHODS: This review was conducted using the framework described by Khan and reported using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses. Two independent reviewers performed systematic data extraction and appraised the methodological quality of included articles. A pooled mean prevalence of bullying was estimated.
RESULTS: Forty-five papers met inclusion criteria. Bullying prevalence ranged from 3.9-86.5%, with a pooled mean estimate of 26.3%. Perceived bullying was associated with mental health problems including psychological distress, depression and burnout, as well as physical health problems including insomnia and headache. Bullied staff took more sick leave.
CONCLUSION: Bullying occurs frequently amongst healthcare staff and is deleterious to health and occupational functionality.
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