Prevalence of Workplace Physical Violence Against Health Care Professionals by Patients and Visitors: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: Workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients and visitors was a persistence problem worldwide. Prevalence estimates varied vastly across studies and lack of quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies. This review aimed to quantify pooled 1-year prevalence estimates at the global and regional levels. Methods: A systematic literature search was performed in the databases of PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Embase between January 1, 2000 and October 8, 2018. Studies providing information about 1-year prevalence of self-reported workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors were included. Heterogeneity between studies was evaluated using Cochran's chi-squared test (Cochran's Q) and I2 values. Subgroup analysis and meta-regression were used to explore heterogeneity. Results: 65 eligible studies reported 1-year prevalence estimates for 61800 health care professionals from 30 countries. The pooled 1-year prevalence of workplace physical violence against health care professionals perpetrated by patients or visitors was 19·33% (95%CI: 16·49 - 22·53 %) and the overall heterogeneity was high across studies. We noted geographic and staff categories variations for prevalence estimates through subgroup analysis. Meta-regression showed sample size, type of health care setting and quality score were significant moderators for heterogeneity. Conclusions: One in five health care professionals experienced workplace physical violence perpetrated by patients or visitors worldwide annually. Practical intervention was needed to ensure safety of health care professionals. Funding Statement: The Ministry of Science and Technology of China. (Grant NO: 2016YFC0900802). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Ethics Approval Statement: This meta-analysis was performed according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.