Workplace Violence Against Primary Care Physicians in Chengdu, China: A Cross-sectional Survey

The purpose of this study is to examine workplace violence (WPV) toward primary care physicians (PCPs), including prevalence, associated factors, impacts, and response to WPV in Chengdu, China.

We used an online cross-sectional design to collect data from October to November 2022 with a structured self-administered questionnaire from a purposive sample of 568 PCPs in Chengdu city.

Among the 490 valid questionnaires, 44.3% of respondents reported at least encountered 1 type of WPV in the preceding year, with 38.0% experiencing emotional abuse, 24.5% threats, 9.8% experiencing physical assault, 5.5% verbal sexual harassment, and 1.6% sexual abuse. The common perpetrators of WPV were patients (81.6%) and their relatives (44.2%). A multilevel analysis showed that PCPs without night shift had lower odds of experiencing WPV (odds ratios [OR] = 0.461, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.299-0.700, P = .0004), while higher education levels were associated with increased odds (OR = 1.835, 95% CI = 1.126-3.005, P = .015). The common reasons of causing WPV perceived by PCPs were "rejected unreasonable demands" (81.6%), "unmet the expectations" (51.2%), and "waiting too long" (47.9%). In response to WPV, 80.6% of PCPs had communicated positively with patients, 61.8% informed superiors, and 23.5% called security guards/police officers, but still 10.6% took no action. Most respondents (82.9%) did not receive training on how to deal with WPV. After experiencing WPV, PCPs reported low work efficiency (56.2%), decreased patient trust (32.7%), and anxious feelings (32.7%).

This study revealed a moderate prevalence of violence against PCPs in primary care settings. Most PCPs lack coping strategies to handle WPV and suffer many negative effects. It is imperative that PCPs receive formal training in WPV management, and our study provides evidence to support such training programs.