A study conducted on the demographic factors of victims of violence in support and administrative departments of hospital in 2013

BACKGROUND: Violence is now regarded as a serious problem and its complication causes heavy costs on the healthcare systems. The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between some demographic characteristics and confrontation with violence. Since there is no study on the prevalence of violence among the support and administration staff of hospitals in Iran, this study was conducted to investigate violence in these departments. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This descriptive–analytical and correlation survey was carried out by census among the support and administrative staff interacting with patients and their companions in Al-Zahra University Hospital of Isfahan in 2013. Research tool was a researcher-made questionnaire including five domains: Personal information, workplace information, verbal violence, physical violence, and other violent acts. Its validity was evaluated by experts reviewing it and its reliability by test–retest (r =0.9). Finally, data were analyzed using descriptive statistical indicators and statistical tests such as Chi-square for sex, marital status, and work department and Mann–Whitney U test for age, level of education, work experience, and violence types by the statistical software SPSS version 20. RESULTS: According to the results obtained, 81% of subjects had been abused at least once and the most reported violence was related to verbal violence (78.4%). There was significant correlation between sex and violence and men were the main victims of violence, but there was no relation between marital status, age, and violence. Work experience was correlated to physical violence and other violent acts conversely. There was also an inverse correlation between physical violence and education; also, security staff faced more violence than others. CONCLUSION: As high prevalence of violence was found especially among the security staff and personnel with less education and work experience, it is suggested to take actions such as educating about patient accompaniment and visiting condition, holding training workshops on confronting with violence and appropriate communication with patients and families, using experienced and patient staff to interact with clients.