Violence against physicians
- 1 September 1994
- journal article
- Published by Springer Science and Business Media LLC in Journal of General Internal Medicine
- Vol. 9 (9), 503-506
- https://doi.org/10.1007/bf02599220
Abstract
Objective: To ascertain the incidence of violence against internists. Setting: A county-operated tertiary care center in Nassau County, New York. Design and participants: Questionnaires were distributed to 100 internal medicine residents and attending physicians. They were asked to report: whether they had ever been assaulted or battered either by patients or by relatives of patients; the point in their medical training at which such episodes had occurred; the nature and severity of the violent episodes; and the circumstances surrounding such episodes. Results: Questionnaires were returned by 63 physicians (response rate, 63%). Ten physicians (16% of the respondents) reported that they had been battered, three (5%) on multiple occasions. Twenty-six physicians (41%) reported that they had been assaulted, 15 (24%) on multiple occasions. The majority (54%) of violent episodes had been instigated either by intoxicated patients or by patients with psychiatric histories. In this small sample, no injury was reported. Conclusions: Violence against medical residents and attending physicians exists and is most commonly associated with patients who are intoxicated or who have psychiatric histories.Keywords
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