Violence Against Healthcare Workers at Primary Care Centers in Dammam and Al Khobar, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, 2019

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographic and Occupational Characteristics of Participating Healthcare Workers (n = 360)

Variables	Frequency	Percent (%)
Gender
Male	105	29.2
Female	255	70.8
Marital status
Single	50	13.9
Married	296	82.2
Divorced	14	3.9
Occupation
Doctor	84	23.3
Nurse	162	45.0
Pharmacist	18	5.0
Technician	42	11.7
Clerk	34	9.4
Other	20	5.6
Nationality
Saudi	351	97.5
Non-Saudi	9	2.5
City
Dammam	180	50.0
Al Khobar	180	50.0
Years of experience
Less than 1	10	2.8
1–5	77	21.4
6–10	137	38.1
More than 10	136	37.8
Usual working shift
Morning shift	358	99.4
Evening shift	13	3.6
Usual number of coworkers
1–5	94	26.1
6–10	54	15.0
> 10	212	58.9
Usual patient gender
Male	36	10.0
Female	42	11.7
Both	282	78.3

Table 2 Types and Characteristics of Violence Against Participating Healthcare Workers

Variables	Frequency	Percent (%)
Did you experience any kind of workplace violence over the past 12 months? (n=360)
Yes	169	9
No	189	52.5
I do not know	2	6
What type of violence did you experience? (n=169)
Physical	5	3.0
Verbal	152	89.9
Intimidation	58	34.3
More than one type	46	27.2
When was the attack? (n=169)
Morning shift	158	93.5
Evening shift	26	15.4
Where did the attack happened? (n=169)
Inside workplace	165	97.6
Outside workplace	6	3.6
Age of offender (approximately)? (n=169)
≤ 20 years	12	7.1
21–45 years	137	81.1
≥46 years	47	27.8
Gender of the offender (n=169)
Male	105	62.1
Female	104	61.5
The offender was a … (n=169)
Patient	125	74.0
Colleague	11	6.5
Companion	77	45.6
Other	9	5.3
Is there a system for reporting violence at your institute? (n=360)
Yes	131	36.4
No	111	30.8
I do not know	118	32.8
If so, do you know how to use the reporting system? (n=131)
Yes	78	59.5
No	53	40.5
Is there encouragement to report violent events using the reporting system? (n=55)
Yes	74	56.5
No	35	26.7
I do not know	22	16.8

Table 3 The Mechanisms of Violence and Subsequent Reactions of Targeted Healthcare Workers

Variables	Frequency	Percent (%)
What do you think caused the violent event? (n=169)
Lack of penalty for offender	73	43.5
Overcrowding	73	43.5
Misunderstanding	53	31.5
Long wait time	40	23.8
Inadequate training	26	15.5
Unmet service demand	13	7.7
Reaction to injury	0	0.0
Others	19	11.3
What was the consequence of the violent event? (n=169)
Nothing	124	73.8
Decreased work performance	29	17.3
I was punished	4	2.4
Felt ashamed or guilty	3	1.8
Absenteeism	2	1.2
Injury (did not need medical care)	1	0.6
Injury (needed medical care)	1	0.6
Other	22	13.1
How often do you face violent assaults? (n=169)
Daily	8	4.7
Weekly	22	13
Less than monthly	80	47.3
Monthly	59	34.9
Do you think the violent event was preventable? (n=169)
Yes	119	70.4
No	18	10.7
I do not know	32	18.9
What was your reaction to the violent event? (n=169)
Nothing	79	46.7
Report to supervisor	78	46.2
Request to move from your workplace	8	4.7
Consult colleague or friend	10	5.9
Report to police	10	5.9
Other	8	4.7
If no reaction, why? (n=169)
Fear of revenge	2	1.2
Fear of losing job	5	3.0
Felt ashamed/guilty	5	3.0
Not efficacious	66	39.1
Do not know	36	21.4
Satisfaction with consequences (n=169)
Very satisfied	3	1.8
Satisfied	4	2.4
Neutral	32	18.9
Unsatisfied	59	34.9
Very unsatisfied	71	42

Table 4 Comparing Mean Ages of Healthcare Workers Who Experienced Violence to Those Who Had Not

Violence		Mean Age ±SD	T-test	P-value
Violence (general)	Yes	34.6 ± 6.3	1.8	0.646
	No	34.9 ± 6.5

Table 5 Associations Between Demographic Characteristics of Participating Healthcare Workers and Violent Events

Variables	Violence		Chi-square	P-value
	No	Yes
Gender
Male	56 53.3%	49 46.7%	0.005	0.946
Female	135 52.9%	120 47.1%
Age
≤ 30 years	62 55.9%	49 44.1%	0.505	0.477
> 30 years	129 51.8%	120 48.2%
Marital status
Single	25 50.0%	25 50.0%	0.294	0.863
Married	158 53.4%	138 46.6%
Divorced	8 57.1%	6 42.9%
Occupation
Doctor	42 50.0%	42 50.0%	2.214	0.819
Nurse	84 51.9%	78 48.1%
Pharmacist	12 66.7%	6 33.3%
Technician	24 57.1%	18 42.9%
Clerk	19 55.9%	15 44.1%
Other	10 50.0%	10 50.0%
Nationality
Saudi	185 52.7%	166 47.3%	0.687	0.407
Non-Saudi	6 66.7%	3 33.3%
City
Dammam	94 52.2%	86 47.8%	0.100	0.751
Al Khobar	97 53.9%	83 46.1%
Years of experience
less than 1	7 70.0%	3 30.0%	1.78	0.619
1–5	39 50.6%	38 49.4%
6–10	70 51.1%	67 48.9%
more than 10	75 55.1%	61 44.9%

Table 6 Associations Between Workplace Characteristics and Violent Events

Variables	Violence		Chi-Square	P-value
	No	Yes
Usual working shift
No	0 0.0%	2 100.0%	2.27	0.132
Yes	191 53.4%	167 46.6%
Usual number of coworkers
1–5	47 50.0%	47 50.0%	0.768	0.681
6–10	31 57.4%	23 42.6%
> 10	113 53.3%	99 46.7%
Usual patient gender
Male	19 52.8%	17 47.2%	0.804	0.669
Female	25 59.5%	17 40.5%
Both	147 52.1%	135 47.9%
Availability of system for reporting violence
Yes	77 58.3%	55 41.7%	13.35	0.001
No	43 38.7%	68 61.3%
I do not know	71 60.7%	46 39.3%
Use of the system
Yes	51 63.7%	29 36.3%	5.38	0.068
No	16 42.1%	22 57.9%
I do not know	8 66.7%	4 33.3%
Encouragement to use the system
Yes	49 65.3%	26 34.7%	4.32	0.115
No	17 45.9%	20 54.1%
I do not know	9 50.0%	9 50.0%
Training on the system
Yes	26 66.7%	13 33.3%	5.24	0.73
No	162 50.9%	156 49.1%
I do not know	2 100.0%	0 0.0%
Effectiveness of the system
Yes	54 66.7%	27 33.3%	14.45	0.001
No	4 20.0%	16 80.0%
I do not know	17 60.7%	11 39.3%