Prevalence and Determinants of Workplace Violence Against Resident Doctors: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital, Gujarat, India

Abstract

Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) against health sector personnel has become an alarming phenomenon worldwide. The largest online survey conducted by the Indian Medical Association in the year 2017 noted that violence against doctors can be a dominant stressor among doctors. Objectives: To estimate the prevalence and describe various determinants of workplace violence against resident doctors. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to October 2023 at tertiary care teaching hospital, Surendranagar, Gujarat which was selected by convenient sampling. Resident doctors (n = 189) from all the departments who were willing to participate were interviewed personally using a pre-designed, pre-tested, semi-structured questionnaire. The Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used. Results: The prevalence of WPV among resident doctors during the past 12 months was 41.26%. Most incidents were psychological in nature (75.64%), primarily perpetrated by patients’ relatives (62.82%), and occurred predominantly in emergency departments (55.13%). Out of all victims of WPV, only 34.62% had reported to authority. The common reasons for WPV found were lack of adequate security personnel (56.61%), prolonged duty hours and excessive workload (55.56%), and unrealistic expectations by the patient/relatives (55.03%). Most participants believed that sufficient security personnel (61.38%) and strengthening of existing law (58.20%) could prevent WPV. The study found a highly statistically significant association between the resident doctor’s branch and WPV. Conclusions: Nearly half of the resident doctors experienced WPV, mainly due to inadequate security, excessive workload, and unrealistic patient/relatives' expectations. However, only one-third reported the incidents, highlighting the need for effective redressal mechanisms.