Violence against doctors: Perception among doctors and patient caretakers-A facility-based cross-sectional study in Mangalore

Background: Commercialization of medical care and lack of mutual trust between doctors and patients have led to a rise in acts of violence against health-care workers. Materials and Methods: In this facility-based cross-sectional study, 71 doctors and 71 patient caretakers were assessed about their perceptions of violence among doctors. Ethics committee approval was obtained before the commencement of the study. The study participants were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. An independent t-test was applied to study the difference in the mean perception scores between doctors and patient caretakers and P < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: A majority (n = 49, 69%) of the doctors in our study had personally faced aggression or violence at their workplace. More than half of the doctors who faced violence/aggression were postgraduates (n = 29, 59.2%). Patient caretakers were responsible for violence/aggression in the majority of the cases. The long waiting period in hospitals was the main reason perceived by the doctors (n = 45, 63.3%) and patient caretakers (n = 54, 76.1%) for the aggression/violence. Doctors strongly felt that the media played an important role in the rising violence against doctors by portraying them negatively (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Workplace violence against doctors is very prevalent in our setting and junior doctors are more at risk. Violence against doctors is overlooked outside of the health-care community and does not receive the due global attention it deserves.