Workplace Violence in Outpatient Physician Clinics: A Systematic Review

Lisa Pompeii, Elisa Benavides, Oana Pop, Yuliana Rojas, Robert Emery, George Delclos, Christine Markham, Abiodun Oluyomi, Karim Vellani and Ned Levine
Additional contact information
Lisa Pompeii: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Elisa Benavides: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Oana Pop: School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Yuliana Rojas: Department of Population Health, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712, USA
Robert Emery: School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
George Delclos: School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Christine Markham: School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Abiodun Oluyomi: Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA
Karim Vellani: Threat Analysis Group, LLC, Houston, TX 77407, USA
Ned Levine: Ned Levine & Associates, Houston, TX 77025, USA

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 18, 1-13

Abstract: Workplace violence (WPV) has been extensively studied in hospitals, yet little is known about WPV in outpatient physician clinics. These settings and work tasks may present different risk factors for WPV compared to hospitals, including the handling/exchange of cash, and being remotely located without security presence. We conducted a systematic literature review to describe what is currently known about WPV in outpatient physician clinics. Six literature databases were searched and reference lists from included articles published from 2000–2019. Thirteen quantitative and five qualitative manuscripts were included which all focused on patient/family-perpetrated violence in outpatient physician clinics. No studies examined other violence types (e.g., worker-on-worker; burglary). The overall prevalence of Type II violence ranged from 9.5% to 74.6%, with the most common form being verbal abuse (42.1–94.3%), followed by threat of assault (14.0–57.4%), bullying (2.5–5.7%), physical assault, (0.5–15.9%) and sexual harassment/assault (0.2–9.3%). Worker consequences included reduced work performance, anger, and depression. Most workers did not receive training on how to manage a violent patient. More work is needed to examine the prevalence and risk factors of WPV in outpatient physician clinics for purposes of informing prevention efforts in these settings.

Keywords: violence; workplace violence; workplace aggression; primary care; outpatient physician clinic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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