Encouraging employees to report verbal violence in primary health care in Serbia: A cross-sectional study
, , and | Jul 28, 2016
About this article
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
© National Institute of Public Health, Slovenia
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Socio-demographic and work characteristics of participants (n=1526)The sum may be less than the total number of participants because of the missing data.
| Verbal violence | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variable, n (%) | Yes (729) | No (797) | OR (95% CI) | p-value |
| Male | 103 (14.1) | 140 (17.6) | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.062 |
| Female | 626 (85.9) | 654 (82.4) | 1.30 (0.99-1.72) | |
| ≤29 | 55 (7.6) | 64 (8.1) | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.252 |
| 30-49 | 454 (62.4) | 422 (53.2) | 1.25 (0.85-1.84) | 0.361 |
| ≥50 | 219 (30.1) | 307 (38.7) | 0.83 (0.56-1.24) | |
| Married/Permanent relationship | 509 (70.2) | 586 (73.6) | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.139 |
| Single | 216 (29.8) | 210 (26.4) | 1.18 (0.95-1.48) | |
| Primary | 9 (1.2) | 25 (3.1) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| Secondary | 369 (50.6) | 397 (49.9) | 2.58 (1.19-5.60) | |
| College | 80 (11) | 85 (10.7) | 2.61 (1.15-5.94) | |
| Faculty | 271 (37.2) | 289 (36.3) | 2.60 (1.19-5.68) | |
| Physician | 208 (28.5) | 230 (28.9) | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.094 |
| Nurse | 462 (63.4) | 420 (52.8) | 1.22 (0.97-1.53) | |
| Other | 59 (8.1) | 146 (18.3) | 0.45 (0.31-0.64) | |
| ≤;10 | 155 (21.3) | 152 (19.1) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| 11-20 | 246 (33.8) | 236 (29.6) | 1.02 (0.77-1.36) | 0.881 |
| ≥20 | 327 (44.9) | 408 (51.3) | 0.79 (0.60-1.03) | 0.077 |
| No | 117 (16.0) | 210 (26.3) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| Yes | 612 (84.0) | 587 (73.7) | 1.87 (1.45-2.41) | |
| No | 441 (60.5) | 556 (69.9) | 1.00 (Reference) | <0 001 |
| Yes | 288 (39.5) | 239 (30.1) | 1.52 (1.23-1.88) | |
| No | 79 (10.8) | 176 (22.1) | 1.00 (Reference) | <0.001 |
| Yes | 650 (89.2) | 621 (77.9) | 2.33 (1.75-3.11) | |
| Preschool children | 49 (6.8) | 34 (4.7) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| School children | 87 (12.1) | 98 (13.5) | 0.62 (0.36-1.04) | 0.070 |
| Adults | 391 (54.3) | 436 (60.0) | 0.62 (0.39-0.98) | 0.042 |
| Elderly | 193 (26.8) | 159 (21.9) | 0.84 (0.52-1.37) | 0.488 |
| > 20 | 598 (82.0) | 607 (76.2) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| ≤ 20 | 131 (18.0) | 190 (23.8) | 0.70 (0.55-0.90) | 0.005 |
| No | 379 (52.0) | 332 (41.8) | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| Yes | 350 (48.0) | 463 (58.2) | 0.66 (0.54-0.81) | <0.001 |
Reac Problems and complaints that employees experienced after verbal violence (n=729). tions of employees to verbal violence (n=729).
| Variables | Values, n(%) |
|---|---|
| No | 223 (30.6) |
| Yes | 506 (69.3) |
| No | 319 (43.8) |
| Yes | 410 (56.1) |
| No | 254 (34.8) |
| Yes | 475 (65.2) |
| No | 313 (43.0) |
| Yes | 416 (47.0) |
Characteristics of verbal violence in the workplace (n=729).
| Variables | Values, n(%) |
|---|---|
| No | 797(52.2) |
| Yes | 729(47.8) |
| All the time | 54(7.4) |
| Sometimes | 598(82.0) |
| Once | 77(10.6) |
| A patient/client | 380(52.1) |
| Relatives of a patient/client | 104(14.3) |
| A staff member | 156(21.4) |
| The management | 79(10.8) |
| An external colleague/worker | 4(0.5) |
| The general pubic | 4(0.5) |
| Inside health organizations | 710(97.4) |
| At a patient’s home | 10(1.4) |
| Outside (on one’s way to work) | 7(1.0) |
Multiple logistic regression model with verbal violence as the dependent variable.
| Independent variables | Values, n(%) | |
|---|---|---|
| A physician | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| A nurse | 2.57 (1.59-4.13) | |
| Other | 0.97 (0.60-1.57) | |
| No | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.083 |
| Yes | 1.30 (0.97-1.74) | |
| No | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| Yes | 1.34 (1.07-1.68) | |
| No | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| Yes | 1.77 (1.26-2.47) | |
| Primary | 1.00 (Reference) | 0.480 |
| Secondary | 0.73 (0.30-1.75) | |
| College | 0.81 (0.32-2.04) | |
| Faculty | 1.52 (0.62-3.70) | |
| ≤20 | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| >20 | 1.43 (1.10-1.85) | |
| Yes | 1.00 (Reference) | |
| No | 1.56 (1.28-1.96) | |
Reactions of employees to verbal violence (n=729).
| Variables | Values, n(%) |
|---|---|
| Told a colleague | 333(45.7) |
| Told the person to stop | 313(42.9) |
| Told friends/family | 197(27.0) |
| Took no action | 183(25.1) |
| Tried to pretend it never happened | 148(20.3) |
| Sought help from the union | 33(4.5) |
| Completed the incident form | 32(4.4) |
| Sought counselling | 12(1.6) |
| Tried to defend themselves | 5(0.7) |
| No | 406(55.6) |
| Yes | 323(44.3) |
| No | 510(70.1) |
| Yes | 93(12.8) |
| Do not know | 125(17.2) |
| The management | 65(67.7) |
| An employer | 23(24.0) |
| The union | 0 |
| The association | 0 |
| The police | 4(4.2) |
| Very dissatisfied | 301(44.6) |
| Dissatisfied | 189(28.0) |
| Moderately satisfied | 121(17.9) |
| Satisfied | 24(3.6) |
| Very satisfied | 37(5.5) |
| It was not important | 60(14.8) |
| Felt ashamed | 10(2.5) |
| Felt guilty | 0 |
| Afraid of negative consequences | 78(19.2) |
| Useless | 304(74.9) |
| Did not know whom to report | 61(15.0) |