Citation

Nelsen AJ, Johnson RS, Ostermeyer B, Sikes KA, Coverdale JH. J. Am. Acad. Psychiatry Law 2015; 43(2): 177-182.

Affiliation

Dr. Nelsen is Psychiatrist of Forensic Programs at the Minnesota Security Hospital, St. Peter, MN. Drs. Johnson and Sikes are Residents and Dr. Coverdale is Professor of Psychiatry and Medical Ethics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Dr. Ostermeyer is The Paul and Ruth Jonas Chair and Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK. A preliminary poster of this material was presented at the 43rd annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, October, 25-28, 2012, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, Publisher American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

26071507

Abstract

It has been suggested that physicians are particularly vulnerable to being stalked. Our goal was to examine the prevalence of physicians who have been stalked and the associated consequences for the victims. We conducted multiple searches of PubMed and PsycINFO for articles in English from 1950 to 2013, using the terms stalker, stalking, aggression, assaults, patient, physician, resident, registrar, intern, and trainee. Reference lists of relevant articles were also searched. We developed and used a five-point evaluation tool for critical appraisal of the articles. We found 12 prevalence studies on the stalking of physicians, of which 8 were national surveys and 4 were focused exclusively on stalking. The studies varied in their methodological quality with common limitations including the lack of a national sample, the lack of construct validity of the survey tool and of the provision of a formal definition of stalking, and low response rates. Prevalence rates ranged from 2 to 25 percent, although one study found a prevalence rate of 68.5 percent. Information on the physical and psychological consequences of having been stalked was also limited. Although a substantial minority of physicians reported having been stalked, there remains a dearth of high-quality studies on the topic.

Language: en