Psychological consequences of aggression in pre-hospital emergency care: cross sectional survey

Pre-hospital emergency care is a particularly vulnerable setting for workplace violence. However, there is no literature available to date on the psychological consequences of violence in pre-hospital emergency care.

To evaluate the psychological consequences of exposure to workplace violence from patients and those accompanying them in pre-hospital emergency care.

A retrospective cross-sectional study.

70 pre-hospital emergency care services located in Madrid region.

A randomized sample of 441 health care workers (135 physicians, 127 nurses and 179 emergency care assistants).

Data were collected from February to May 2012. The survey was divided into four sections: demographic/professional information, level of burnout determined by Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), mental health status using General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) and frequency and type of violent behaviour experienced by staff members.

The health care professionals who had been exposed to physical and verbal violence presented a significantly higher percentage of anxiety, emotional exhaustion, depersonalization and burnout syndrome compared with those who had not been subjected to any aggression. Frequency of verbal violence (more than five times) was related to emotional exhaustion and depersonalization.

Type of violence (i.e. physical aggression) is especially related to high anxiety levels and frequency of verbal aggression is associated with burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization). Psychological counselling should be made available to professional staff who have been subjected to physical aggression or frequent verbal violence.