Violence Against Iraqi Doctors: A Sample from the Baghdad City

ABSTRACT

Physicians have recently become a target of workplace-violence, with rates four times higher than other workers studied. This study aimed to investigate the enormity and nature of violence directed against Iraqi doctors as well as to determine doctors’ experiences in dealing with post-violence exposure and their plans to leave country for good. In this cross-sectional study, 397-medical staff surveyed online using reproducible, validated, and piloted questionnaire over a period of four weeks. Chi-square test used to assess the association between the typology of doctors’-violence exposure and their socio-demographic and workplace characteristics. Verbal-violence is the dominant-type experienced by Iraqi physicians (84.1%) followed by threats and physical-violence (50.4% and 31.2%). Resident-doctors are most affected among work-placements for all types of violence. Significant-associations have been observed between these three types of violent attacks and many of the doctors' demographic-characteristics (P < 0.05). Violence against Iraqi doctors has become common with a steady increase since 2003. Verbal-violence is the most constantly repeated aggression, usually resulting in either threats or a physical assault, which is commonly settled by paying a large amount of money as is invariably the tribal custom for a malpractice-claim, instead of having recourse to more formal and well-established legal action.

KEYWORDS:

• Violence
• Iraqi doctors
• physical
• verbal
• threat

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks to all doctors who participated voluntarily in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Authors’ contribution

All authors have contributed to the study work with direct, mutual, and actual contributions to this manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This study is self-funding.

Notes on contributors

Nawar Sahib Khalil

Nawar Sahib Khalil have Ph.D degree in Community Medicine (Epidemiology).

Reem Ali Haddad

Reem Ali Haddad have Master degree in Gynaecology and Obstetrics.

Ruqaya Subhi Tawfeeq

Ruqaya Subhi Tawfeeq have FICMS Community Medicine.

Jalil Ibrahim Salih

Jalil Ibrahim Saleh have Ph.D in Community Medicine.

Dhafer Basheer Al-Yuzbaki

Dhafer Basheer Al-Yuzbaki have Ph.D in Community Medicine.