Workplace assaults on minority health and mental health care workers in Los Angeles.
Workplace violence is becoming increasingly recognized as a serious problem in health care settings. All 628 workers' compensation assaults claimed by minority Los Angeles County health care workers from 1986 through 1990 were abstracted. Population-at-risk data from county personnel computer tapes provided denominators by age, sex, race, job classification, and type of facility. Rates varied by type of facility (rate ratio = 38 for psychiatric hospitals vs public health facilities) and varied by job, with inpatient nursing attendants having the highest rate for caregivers. Most assaults were committed by patients (86%), followed by coworkers (8%). The average cost of an assault ($4879) was relatively low but related to the costlier problem of work-related emotional illness.
Sullivan
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Health, Safety and Disability Benefits Division, Department of Human Resources, County of Los Angeles, Commerce, CA 90022, USA.
Yuan
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D000041:Absenteeism; D000328:Adult; D003156:Community Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015141:Los Angeles; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008913:Minority Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014942:Workers' Compensation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000078329:Workforce; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data