Workplace violence against doctors involved in clinical care at a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

A study was conducted to determine perceptions, attitudes and experience of workplace violence among residents and faculty at a tertiary care centre in Karachi, Pakistan. An anonymous, electronic, self-administered questionnaire was circulated among all residents and faculty members working at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi. A standard questionnaire was devised and used, and workplace violence and its types were defined as per World Health Organization (WHO) definitions. An overall response rate of 44.9% was achieved. A total of 53.4% of the respondents reported being victims of some form of workplace violence with verbal abuse being the most prevalent (41.6%) followed by bullying and threat. Most frequent perpetrators were found to be faculty members followed by patients or their attendants. Specialty of respondents was found to be significantly associated with verbal abuse and significantly more females were subjected to sexual harassment, while ethnicity was found to be significantly associated with racial harassment. The results correspond to previously available literature, while they also highlight some findings unique to our culture. We suggest that measures should be taken as per WHO and Joint Commission International Accreditation ( J CIA) recommendations to prevent workplace violence across the country.