Citation

Dey AK, Hay K, Raj A. EClinicalMedicine 2022; 50: e101518.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.eclinm.2022.101518

PMID

35770257

PMCID

PMC9233424

Abstract

In April 2020, an aggravated mob attacked two female doctors and hurled stones at them in Indore, India, where they were screening a woman for COVID-19 in a densely populated area, as described in the news. This was not a singular incident from a single country, but one of several thousands of cases reported around the world every year. In its 73rd assembly, the World Medical Association noted that violence against healthcare workers (HCWs) has risen over the past decade and increased drastically during COVID-19. A 2019 meta-analysis conducted by Liu et al. that included studies from Asia, Europe, North America, Australasia, Africa, and Latin America estimated the prevalence of workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers by patients and visitors. The study found that 61·9% (95% CI: 56·1% to 67·6%) HCWs faced WPV, with 24·4% (95% CI: 22·4% to 26·4%) reporting experiencing physical violence over the last 12 months. While this analysis focused on violence perpetrated by patients and visitors, studies from across world regions document co-workers and supervisors as perpetrators of WPV as well...

Language: en