Characterizing violence in health care in British Columbia.
BACKGROUND
The high rate of violence in the healthcare sector supports the need for greater surveillance efforts.


OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to use a province-wide workplace incident reporting system to calculate rates and identify risk factors for violence in the British Columbia healthcare industry by occupational groups, including nursing.


METHODS
Data were extracted for a 1-year period (2004-2005) from the Workplace Health Indicator Tracking and Evaluation database for all employee reports of violence incidents for four of the six British Columbia health authorities. Risk factors for violence were identified through comparisons of incident rates (number of incidents/100,000 worked hours) by work characteristics, including nursing occupations and work units, and by regression models adjusted for demographic factors.


RESULTS
Across health authorities, three groups at particularly high risk for violence were identified: very small healthcare facilities [rate ratios (RR) = 6.58, 95% CI =3.49, 12.41], the care aide occupation (RR = 10.05, 95% CI = 6.72, 15.05), and paediatric departments in acute care hospitals (RR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.05, 4.67).


CONCLUSIONS
The three high-risk groups warrant targeted prevention or intervention efforts be implemented. The identification of high-risk groups supports the importance of a province-wide surveillance system for public health planning.
Kling
Rakel N
RN
School of Environmental Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. rkling@interchange.ubc.ca
Yassi
Annalee
A
Smailes
Elizabeth
E
Lovato
Chris Y
CY
Koehoorn
Mieke
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001955:British Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D019981:Health Care Sector / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006268:Health Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012307:Risk Factors; D012308:Risk Management / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014754:Violence / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017132:Workplace / Q000706:statistics & numerical data