Violence toward chronic pain care providers: A national survey

This study measured the following: violence rates against chronic pain care providers (CPCPs), character/context/risk factors for violence and CPCPs' mitigation strategies.

An e-mail survey was sent to members of the American Society of Interventional Pain Physicians (ASIIP) to collect demographics, rates/type of violence, injury, risk mitigation, and context of violence. Correlation with demographic factors calculated using one-way ANOVA and χ2 test (Fisher test).

Security was called by 64.85% of CPCPs and 51.52% received threats. The threats involved a gun 7.05% of the time. Injury was reported by 2.73% of CPCPs. The most common risk mitigation was discharging patient (85.33%). Others used protective equipment (16.89%) of which a significant percentage carried a gun (54%). Opioid management was the highest context for violence (89.9%; P < 0.0001). Those who practiced part-time were more likely to be harmed (P = 0.0290). Females were less likely to be threatened (P = 0.0507). Anesthesiology was the most threatened vs other specialties (P = 0.0215). Urban practices were less likely to move or close the practice (P = 0.0292).

CPCPs were at high risk for violence. Risk factors were older age, male, working part time, and anesthesiology. Risk was highest in the context of opioid management and disability. Discharging patient was the most common risk mitigation. A significant number of physicians carried firearms.