Workplace violence and psychosocial risks exposures: a multicenter cross-sectional study
AI Summary
68.1% of primary healthcare professionals reported workplace violence, mostly verbal and psychological (98.6%).
Adverse psychosocial exposures showed a positive gradient with violence; high emotional demands were the strongest predictor (aOR 7.34).
Male sex, permanent contract, direct patient care, low organisational justice, and poor self-rated health independently increased reports; interventions should target emotional demands and organisational justice.
BMC Public Health. 2026 Jun 2. doi: 10.1186/s12889-026-27888-y. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Workplace violence has emerged as a major occupational health concern in healthcare settings, with growing evidence of its negative impact on workers’ physical and mental health, as well as on organizational performance. The present study aimed to describe the prevalence of workplace violence and to examine its association with sociodemographic characteristics, working conditions, and psychosocial risk factors among primary healthcare professionals.
METHODS: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted in 2025 among healthcare professionals working in the Primary and Community Care Management of Central Catalonia, Spain. Data were collected through an anonymous online questionnaire that included sociodemographic and occupational variables, exposure to workplace violence, health-related outcomes, and psychosocial risks assessed using validated instruments, including the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ III). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square tests and Mann-Whitney U tests, as appropriate, Kendall’s Tau-b to assess associations between ordinal variables and a multivariable binary logistic regression model to identify independent factors associated with the reporting of violence. Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS version 29.
RESULTS: A total of 420 healthcare professionals participated in the study, of whom 68.1% reported having experienced workplace violence. Verbal and psychological violence was the most prevalent form (98.6%). A clear positive gradient was observed between adverse psychosocial risk exposure and workplace violence. The multivariable model identified high emotional demands as the strongest independent predictor; professionals in the most unfavorable category were 7.34 times more likely to report violence (95% CI: 3.46-15.57). Other significant factors included being male (aOR 3.63; 95% CI: 1.52-8.65), having a permanent contract (aOR 2.37; 95% CI:1.25-4.51), being in direct patient care (aOR 3.74; 95% CI: 1.83-7.68), lack of organizational justice (aOR 2.23; 95% CI: 1.04-4.80), and poor self-rated health (aOR 2.98; 95% CI: 1.26-7.06).
CONCLUSIONS: Workplace violence is highly prevalent in primary care and strongly associated with adverse psychosocial conditions. These findings suggest that managing emotional demands and organizational justice could be relevant areas for strategies aimed at addressing workplace violence and supporting healthcare workers’ well-being.
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