Aggression and violence towards staff working with older patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the incidence of violence and aggression towards staff working in elderly care wards and to consider the factors that influence the risk of experiencing such an incident.


METHODS
Questionnaires were administered to 287 nursing and therapy staff within a community health NHS trust in the West Midlands. A response rate of 34% (96) was achieved.


RESULTS
Fifty one per cent (49) of staff had experienced an incident of violence or aggression. There was a significant difference between the probability of experiencing violence and the occupation of the participant (chi2 = 0.035), with 65% (31 of 48) of nurses having experienced an incident, compared to only 42% (10 of 24) of occupational therapists and 27% (4 of 15) of physiotherapists.


CONCLUSIONS
This study should be replicated in a wider geographical area and apparent anomalies in frequency of assault by occupation need to be considered in future research.
Mullan
Barbara
B
School of Psychology, University of Sydney, Australia. barbara@psych.usyd.edu.au
Badger
Frances
F
D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004739:England / Q000453:epidemiology; D005851:Geriatric Nursing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016272:Occupational Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D009788:Occupational Therapy / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D026761:Physical Therapy Specialty / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management; D013222:State Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data