Workplace violence against healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sudan: A cross-sectional study

Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers (HCWs) is a growing global issue. During the coronavirus diseases-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, violent attacks on HCWs have been documented worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the magnitude and pattern of WPV among HCWs in Sudan during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A web-based cross-sectional study of WPV was conducted among registered medical and health workers (pharmacists, physicians, dentists, nurses, laboratory technicians, and administrative and paramedical staff) during the COVID-19 pandemic in Sudan. Data were collected from August to December 2021 using a self-administered questionnaire distributed through social media platforms.

A total of 792 HCWs returned the online questionnaire. The mean age was 33.5 ± 8.6 years, where more than half were females (54.9%) and working during the day shift (58.8%). During the COVID-19 pandemic, three out of every four participants (78.3%) reported experiencing violence, with 65.8 % experiencing it more than three times. The common types of violence experienced were verbal (91.6%), physical (50.0%), and sexual abuse (11.0%). The emergency department reported the highest number of violent incidents (46.9%). Half of these violent events were not reported (50.3%), primarily due to a lack of a reporting system. The demographic factors that were significantly associated with exposure to violence were participants' occupation (p < 0.001), age (p = 0.001), marital status (p = 0.002), and years of working experience (p = 0.020).

WPV was rampant among the HCWs in Sudan during the COVID-19 pandemic. The current findings are presented to draw the attention of policy leaders and stakeholders in Sudan to this alarming problem prompting the pressing need for policy and system interventions.