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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Public Mental Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1441389
This article is part of the Research Topic How Workplace Behaviors Impact Mental Health: Does Diversity Matter? View all 33 articles

Association between workplace violence from patients and the mental health status of healthcare workers in Zhuhai China: A cross-sectional study

Provisionally accepted
Ying Zheng Ying Zheng 1Xuping Li Xuping Li 1Yajun Sun Yajun Sun 2Chun Mao Chun Mao 2Jiaju Huang Jiaju Huang 2Jingya Li Jingya Li 1Guangchuan Zhang Guangchuan Zhang 2Ning Wei Ning Wei 2Xiaohui Wang Xiaohui Wang 2Yongyong Teng Yongyong Teng 2*
  • 1 Central South University, Changsha, China
  • 2 Zhuhai Third People's Hospital, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Objective: Workplace violence (WPV) poses a serious occupational risk. This study aims to explore the association between WPV from patients and the occurrence of insomnia, depression, and anxiety among healthcare workers. Methods: Information about the WPV from patients was collected by a self-designed questionnaire. Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), and Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) were used for the assessment of mental health. Logistic regression was used to explore the association between WPV from patients and insomnia, depression, and anxiety. Mediation analysis was used to evaluate the mediation effect of depression and anxiety on the relationships between WPV from patients and insomnia. Results: Of 10,413 included healthcare workers, 40.05% experienced verbal violence, 6.44% experienced physical violence from patients in the past year. There is a significant association between verbal violence and insomnia (OR=1.780, 95% CI: 1.591-1.990), depression (OR=1.823, 95% CI: 1.640-2.026), and anxiety (OR=1.831, 95% CI: 1.606-2.087), as well as physical violence (insomnia: OR=1.220, 95% CI: 1.002-1.481; depression: OR=1.274, 95% CI: 1.052-1.540; anxiety: OR=1.316, 95% CI: 1.058-1.630). Moreover, depression and anxiety mediated the relationship between WPV and insomnia, the mediated proportion was 62.21% in the association between verbal violence and insomnia, and 60.22% in the association between physical violence and insomnia. Conclusions: The association between WPV from patients and heightened risks of mental health issues emphasizes the necessity of supportive work environments. Recognizing the mediating role of depression and anxiety stresses the significance of tailored mental health training for healthcare staff.

    Keywords: workplace violence 1, Patient2, depression 3, insomnia 4, healthcare worker 5

    Received: 31 May 2024; Accepted: 16 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Zheng, Li, Sun, Mao, Huang, Li, Zhang, Wei, Wang and Teng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yongyong Teng, Zhuhai Third People's Hospital, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China

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