ABSTRACT
The main aim of this research is to evaluate the incidents of aggressive/violent behaviors that is directed or witnessed by medical students of Ondokuz Mayis University Medical School who are undertaking their internships at the different departments of Ondokuz Mayis University Hospital. Furthermore, the views of these interns with regard to appropriate prevention and intervention strategies for violence/aggression towards physicians were assessed.
A cross-sectional study was conducted at Ondokuz Mayis University (OMU) Medical School using a standardised questionnaire as the research tool. In 2003, on all September, a survey was voluntarily undertaken by OMU Medical School interns under supervision. Of the 161 interns, 139 (86,%) responded to the survey. All necessary approvals were obtained from the Deanery of OMU Medical School. Data obtained from this research was recorded and analyzed by SPSS 20.0 statistical package. The descriptive statistics of count and percentage was used to present the data.
Of the 161 interns, 139 (86,3%) responded to the survey: 75 females (54%) and 64 males (46%). The mean age was 23.79 ± 1.23 years. 43,2% of the respondents stated that they were the victims of violence/aggression from the patients or patients' relatives at their workplaces due to their jobs. Moreover, 78,4% of the respondents were the witnesses of incidents of aggressive/violent behaviors towards medical doctors because of their occupation. The majority of respondents (97,8%) stated that violence/aggression towards medical doctors is preventable and the participants consider that the main reason for these types of the behaviors (82,7%) was that doctors were held accountable for the failures and adverse events in the healthcare system. 95,7% of study participants believed that the most important strategy to prevent violence was to review existing legal sanctions and to make appropriate amendments.
Many studies agree that the incidents of aggressive/violent behaviors directed to healthcare staff are alarmingly increased, in comparison to the previous years and the effective measurements to tackle these types of incidents are not sufficient. However, it should be remembered that the rise of violence/aggression towards healthcare professionals in healthcare settings is the reflection of the violence in the society. Effective prevention and intervention strategies are inadequate in Turkey. Undertaking further studies to establish the factors causing violence & aggression and researchs in population at risk will act as pioneer to establish more effective preventative strategies.
Keywords: Medical doctor, violence, aggression, prevention, healthcare system.
