<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec id="j_sjph-2017-0002_s_333_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c14b1Aa"><h3>Introduction</h3><p>Workplace violence is a serious and multidimensional problem that adversely affects professional and personal lives of employees. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of verbal violence as a part of psychological violence among employees in primary health care in Belgrade, and to identify contributing factors of verbal violence in the workplace.</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2017-0002_s_334_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c14b2Aa"><h3>Methods</h3><p>In this cross-sectional study, the final analysis included 1526 employees, using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected using the questionnaire Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Case Studies Research, developed by ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The general response rate was 86.8% (1526/1757).</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2017-0002_s_335_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c14b3Aa"><h3>Results</h3><p>It was found that 47.8% of the participants were subjected to verbal violence. The main source of verbal violence was patient/client, 55.6% of employees did not report the incident. Among those who did not report the incident, 74.9% believed that reporting violence was useless. The interaction with patients (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.02-2.06) and work between 6pm and 7am (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.01-1.60) were significant contributing factors of verbal violence.</p></sec><sec id="j_sjph-2017-0002_s_336_w2aab3b8ab1b7b1aab1c14b4Aa"><h3>Conclusion</h3><p>The results are indicative of a high prevalence of verbal violence against employees in primary health centres, which could have undesirable consequences. Conducting a better organizational measure and encouraging employees to report workplace violence could reduce the prevalence of verbal violence.</p></sec></abstract>

IntroductionWorkplace violence is a serious and multidimensional problem that adversely affects professional and personal lives of employees. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and characteristics of verbal violence as a part of psychological violence among employees in primary health care in Belgrade, and to identify contributing factors of verbal violence in the workplace.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, the final analysis included 1526 employees, using multi-stage sampling. Data were collected using the questionnaire Workplace Violence in the Health Sector Country Case Studies Research, developed by ILO/ICN/WHO/PSI. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis were used to analyse the data. The general response rate was 86.8% (1526/1757).ResultsIt was found that 47.8% of the participants were subjected to verbal violence. The main source of verbal violence was patient/client, 55.6% of employees did not report the incident. Among those who did not report the incident, 74.9% believed that reporting violence was useless. The interaction with patients (OR, 1.45; 95% CI, 1.02-2.06) and work between 6pm and 7am (OR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.01-1.60) were significant contributing factors of verbal violence.ConclusionThe results are indicative of a high prevalence of verbal violence against employees in primary health centres, which could have undesirable consequences. Conducting a better organizational measure and encouraging employees to report workplace violence could reduce the prevalence of verbal violence.

Encouraging employees to report verbal violence in primary health care in Serbia: A cross-sectional study

Primary Health Center New Belgrade, Djordja Cutukovica 48a, Zemun, 11070 Belgrade,

Slovenian Journal of Public Health

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

SPODBUJANJE ZAPOSLENIH K PRIJAVI VERBALNEGA NASILJA V OSNOVNEM ZDRAVSTVENEM VARSTVU V SRBIJI: PRESEČNA ŠTUDIJA

IntroductionWorkplace violence is a serious and multidimensional problem that adversely affects professional and personal lives of employees. The aim of this...

Encouraging employees to report verbal violence in primary health care in Serbia: A cross-sectional study

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Jul 28, 2016

Page range: 11 - 17

Received: Jan 25, 2016

Accepted: May 16, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2017-0002

Keywords
verbal workplace violence, contributing factors, health workers

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Encouraging employees to report verbal violence in primary health care in Serbia: A cross-sectional study

Article Category: Original scientific article

Published Online: Jul 28, 2016

Page range: 11 - 17

Received: Jan 25, 2016

Accepted: May 16, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjph-2017-0002

Keywordsverbal workplace violence, contributing factors, health workers

© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
verbal workplace violence, contributing factors, health workers