Serious Workplace Violence against healthcare providers in China in the past 15 years

Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare providers has severe consequences and underreported worldwide. The aim of this study was to present the features, causes, and outcomes of serious WPV against healthcare providers in China. Method: We searched serious WPV events reported online and collected information about time, location, people involved, methods used, motivations, and outcomes related to the incident, and analyzed their summary statistics. Result: Serious WPV reported online (n=379) in China were mainly physical (97%) and often involved the use of weapons (34.5%). Doctors were victims in most instances (81.1%). WPV mostly happened in cities (90.2%), teaching hospitals (87.4%), and tertiary hospitals (67.9%), frequently in ED, OB-GYN, and pediatrics, in the months of June, May, and February. WPV Rates increased dramatically in 2014 and decreased after 2015. Death (12.8%), severe injury (6%), and hospitalization (24.2%) were the major outcomes. Conclusion: Serious WPV in China may stem from poor patient-doctor relationships, overstressed health providers in the highly demanded hospitals, poorly educated/informed patients, insufficient legal protection and poor communications. A law protecting healthcare providers implemented in 2015 may have helped curb the violence.