Violence towards personnel in out-of-hours primary care: A cross-sectional study

Figures & data

Table I. Definitions of violent behaviours.

Violent behaviour	Definition
Verbal abuse	A patient, their friend(s), or family member(s) swearing or using obscene gestures with the intent of offending you. This can include abuse over the phone
Threats	A patient, their friend(s), or family member(s), through word or gesture, threatens you (including attempts to pressure you into prescribing or completing a certificate)
Physical abuse	A patient, their friend(s), or family member(s) physically attacks you. This includes behaviours such as punching, slapping, kicking, or use of a weapon or other object with the intent of intimidating you or causing bodily harm
Sexual harassment	Any form of sexual propositions or unwelcome sexual attention from patients or their friend(s) or family member(s). It includes behaviours such as humiliating or offensive jokes and remarks with sexual overtones, suggestive looks or physical gestures, requests for inappropriate physical examinations, and touching or grabbing

Source: Adapted from Magin, University of Newcastle, Australia [15].

Table II. Description of participants (n = 536).*

	n	%
Gender
Male	158	30
Female	377	70
Profession
Nurse	331	62
Physician	190	35
Other	15	3
Age
≤ 30 years	69	13
31–49	308	58
≥ 50	155	29
Years working in OOH primary care
< 10 years	381	72
11–19	86	16
> 20	62	12

Note: ^*Due to missing data some of the total numbers are less than 536.

Table III. Prevalence of occupational violence in last 12 months by occupation.

	Nurse (n = 331)			Physician (n = 190)			Other (n = 15)			Total (n = 536)
	n^*	%	95% CI	n	%	95% CI	n	%	95% CI	n	%	95% CI
Verbal abuse	283/329	86	82–90	121/188	64	58–71	8/14	57	31–83	412/531	78	74–81
Threats	148/318	47	41–52	72/184	39	32–46	5/15	33	10–57	225/517	44	39–48
Physical abuse	38/324	12	8–15	23/188	12	8–17	6/15	40	15–65	67/527	13	10–16
Sexual harassment	30/316	10	6–13	16/182	9	5–13	0/15	0	0–0	46/510	9	7–12

Note: ^*Number of undesired behaviours/number of respondents.

Table IV. Multiple logistic regression of the association between occupation, age, gender, working years in OOH primary care, and the dependent variables verbal abuse, threats, physical abuse, and sexual harassment during the last 12 months (n = 536).

	Verbal abuse		Threats		Physical abuse		Sexual harassment
Variable	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI	OR	95% CI
Occupation
Nurse	1.0		1.0		1.0		1.0
Physician	0.26	0.15–0.46	0.66	0.40–1.08	0.56	0.26–1.20	1.19	0.53–2.68
Gender
Female	1.0		1.0		1.0		1.0
Male	1.23	0.68–2.18	1.14	0.68–1.89	2.36	1.11–5.05	0.51	0.20–1.26
Age
<= 40 years	1.0		1.0		1.0		1.0
> 40 years	0.77	0.46–1.28	0.69	0.45–1.04	0.87	0.46–1.64	0.28	0.14–0.59
Years working in OOH primary care
<= 5 years	1.0		1.0		1.0		1.0
> 5 years	1.48	(0.90–2.43)	1.31	0.87–1.97	0.69	0.37–1.27	2.34	0.16–4.73

Notes: OR = odds ratio; CI = confidence interval.

Table V. Frequency of perceived causes for the last episode of verbal abuse, threats, and physical abuse.

	Verbal abuse		Threats		Physical abuse
	n	%	n	%	n	%
Drug influence or mental illness	251	61	238	77	146	91
Anxiety	47	11	21	7	3	2
Dissatisfied with service	97	25	36	12	4	3
Pain	1	0	4	1	2	1
Other	13	3	9	3	5	3
Total	409	100	308	100	160	100

Gale C, Arroll B, Coverdale J. Aggressive acts by patients against general practitioners in New Zealand: One-year prevalence. N Z Med J 2006;119:U2050.

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