FACTORS INFLUENCING VIOLENCE EXPERIENCED BY MEDICAL STAFF IN PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CENTERS, TAIF CITY.

Background:- Health care workers are ranked as one of the most vulnerable groups experiencing violence and aggressive behavior compared to other occupational groups. Objectives:- To estimate the prevalence rate, characteristics and assessing the avoidance measures, notification of the violence among medical staff working in primary health care centers in Taif city. Subject and methods:- A cross-sectional study design was applied among all physicians and a representative sample of nurses working in primary health care centers, affiliated to the Ministry of Health (MOH) in Taif city. A predesigned Arabic/English validated self-administered questionnaire was used. Results:- In this study 56 physicians and 145 nurses responded giving a response rate of 77.6%. Their age ranged between 25 and 60 years (36.2±8.2), 59.7% of them aged between 25 and 35 years. Males represent 55.7% of them. More than half of them (52.2%) were Saudis. Prevalence of workplace violence was 30.3%. Verbal abuse was the commonest reported type (86.9%). Absence of security, training on the procedures that must be followed and special uniform at workplace was significantly associated with workplace violence. We concluded that, workplace violence is a significant problem facing a considerable proportion of HCWs in primary health care centers in Taif, Saudi Arabia. Most violence incidents were verbal. Conclusion:- Findings of this study revealed that HCWs who were dealing with male patients only were at high risk of workplace violence and absence of measures to avoid workplace violence particularly security, training on the procedures that must be followed and special uniform at workplace was significantly associated with workplace violence.