TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Workplace violence, psychological stress, sleep quality and subjective health in Chinese doctors: a large cross-sectional study
JO  - BMJ open
A1  - Sun, Tao
A1  - Gao, Lei
A1  - Li, Fujun
A1  - Shi, Yu
A1  - Xie, Fengzhe
A1  - Wang, Jinghui
A1  - Wang, Shuo
A1  - Zhang, Shue
A1  - Liu, Wenhui
A1  - Duan, Xiaojian
A1  - Liu, Xinyan
A1  - Zhang, Zhong
A1  - Li, Li
A1  - Fan, Lihua
SP  - e017182
EP  - e017182
VL  - 7
IS  - 12
N2  - BACKGROUND: Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers is known as violence in healthcare settings and referring to the violent acts that are directed towards doctors, nurses or other healthcare staff at work or on duty. Moreover, WPV can cause a large number of adverse outcomes. However, there is not enough evidence to test the link between exposure to WPV against doctors, psychological stress, sleep quality and health status in China. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: This study had three objectives: (1) to identify the incidence rate of WPV against doctors under a new classification, (2) to examine the association between exposure to WPV, psychological stress, sleep quality and subjective health of Chinese doctors and (3) to verify the partial mediating role of psychological stress. <br><br>DESIGN: A cross-sectional online survey study. SETTING: The survey was conducted among 1740 doctors in tertiary hospitals, 733 in secondary hospital and 139 in primary hospital across 30 provinces of China. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3016 participants were invited. Ultimately, 2617 doctors completed valid questionnaires. The effective response rate was 86.8%. <br><br>RESULTS: The results demonstrated that the prevalence rate of exposure to verbal abuse was the highest (76.2%), made difficulties (58.3%), smear reputation (40.8%), mobbing behaviour (40.2%), intimidation behaviour (27.6%), physical violence (24.1%) and sexual harassment (7.8%). Exposure to WPV significantly affected the psychological stress, sleep quality and self-reported health of doctors. Moreover, psychological stress partially mediated the relationship between work-related violence and health damage. <br><br>CONCLUSION: In China, most doctors have encountered various WPV from patients and their relatives. The prevalence of three new types of WPV have been investigated in our study, which have been rarely mentioned in past research. A safer work environment for Chinese healthcare workers needs to be provided to minimise health threats, which is a top priority for both government and society.<br><br>© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2044-6055
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017182
ID  - ref1
ER  -