title: Violence against general practitioners in Turkey.
abstract: We aimed to determine the violence against general practitioners (GPs) through their suggestions on its cause and prevention. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study based on self-administered questionnaire answered by a convenience study population consisting of 522 GPs between November and December 2006. Of the participating GPs, 82.8% reported that they experienced violence. They reported 1,020 events, and verbal form was the most common form (89.3%). Verbal and sexual violence were seen more frequently among women, whereas physical and economic violence were more frequent with men. Perpetrators were patients and/or their relatives in 91.1% of the events. However, they were colleagues and superiors in 67.9% of the economic and sexual violence events. Violence against GPs warrants more attention. For its prevention, there is a need of continuous professional, administrative, and legal support from the government along with systematic, coordinated implementations independent from daily political concerns.
authors.affiliation: Ondokuz Mayis University, Department of Forensic Medicine, Kurupelit 55139, Samsun, Turkey. baydin@omu.edu.tr
authors.forename: Berna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Mehtap
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kartal
authors.forename: Ozlem
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Midik
authors.forename: Alper
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buyukakkus
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015984:Causality; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012737:Sex Factors; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000208:ethnology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D014754:Violence / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace