Incidence and recurrent work-related violence towards healthcare workers and subsequent health effects. A one-year follow-up study

Aims: The aim of the present study was to analyse the incidence of violence and threats of violence during the first year at work after graduating as a healthcare worker, the risk of re-exposure and health effects among respondents previously exposed to violence or threats. Methods: We analysed baseline data from 5,696 healthcare students and conducted prospective multinomial regression analyses following 2,847 respondents during their first year of employment. Results: At baseline we found that nearly a third of the respondents had been exposed to violence or threats of violence, 8.7% during trainee periods. At follow-up, we found that 24.6% of the healthcare workers had been exposed to violence and 33.4% to threats during the first year at work after graduation. Exposure to violence or threats during trainee periods was a strong predictor of violence (Odds ratio (OR)=3.3) and threats (OR=4.2) at follow- up. The results showed that violence or threats in previous jobs or at other places had a significant impact on the health of the victims at follow- up independent of gender, age, sense of coherence, self-efficacy and health at baseline. Exposure during trainee periods had a small but not quite significant (p=0.06) impact on the health of the victims at follow-up. Conclusions: The study shows a high risk of violence and threats of violence among healthcare workers during training and the first year at work after graduation, indicating a need for violence prevention planning involving both college and workplaces.