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Review
. 2022 Dec;24(12):911-924.
doi: 10.1007/s11920-022-01398-1. Epub 2022 Nov 29.

Violence Against Physicians in the Workplace: Trends, Causes, Consequences, and Strategies for Intervention

Rosangela Caruso  1   2 , Tommaso Toffanin  1 , Federica Folesani  3 , Bruno Biancosino  2 , Francesca Romagnolo  1 , Michelle B Riba  4 , Daniel McFarland  5 , Laura Palagini  1   2 , Martino Belvederi Murri  1   2 , Luigi Zerbinati  1   2 , Luigi Grassi  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Violence Against Physicians in the Workplace: Trends, Causes, Consequences, and Strategies for Intervention

Rosangela Caruso et al. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2022 Dec.

Abstract

Purpose: Violence against healthcare professionals has become an emergency in many countries. Literature in this area has mainly focused on nurses while there are less studies on physicians, whose alterations in mental health and burnout have been linked to higher rates of medical errors and poorer quality of care. We summarized peer-reviewed literature and examined the epidemiology, main causes, consequences, and areas of intervention associated with workplace violence perpetrated against physicians.

Recent findings: We performed a review utilizing several databases, by including the most relevant studies in full journal articles investigating the problem. Workplace violence against doctors is a widespread phenomenon, present all over the world and related to a number of variables, including individual, socio-cultural, and contextual variables. During the COVID-19 pandemic, incidence of violence has increased. Data also show the possible consequences in physicians' deterioration of quality of life, burnout, and traumatic stress which are linked to physical and mental health problems, which, in a domino effect, fall on patients' quality of care. Violence against doctors is an urgent global problem with consequences on an individual and societal level. This review highlights the need to undertake initiatives aimed at enhancing understanding, prevention, and management of workplace violence in healthcare settings.

Keywords: Burnout; Emergency departments; Physicians; Psychiatry; Violence; Workplace.

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Conflict of interest statement

Rosangela Caruso, Tommaso Toffanin, Federica Folesani, Bruno Biancosino, Francesca Romagnolo, Michelle B. Riba, Daniel McFarland, Laura Palagini, Martino Belvederi Murri, Luigi Zerbinati, and Luigi Grassieach declare no potential conflicts of interest. Michelle Riba is an editor of Current Psychiatry Reports but did not review this article or make editorial suggestions regarding accepting or rejecting this article. She receives royalties or a stipend from Springer, Guilford, Cambridge, American Psychiatric Press Inc., and Current Psychiatry Reports. Luigi Grassi has received royalties for books from Springer and personal fees from EISAI and ANGELINI for scientific consultancy outside the submitted work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Consequences of exposure to violence incidents
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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