VIOLENCE AGAINST PHYSICIANS

Objective: To ascertain the incidence of violence against internists. Setting: A county-operated tertiary care center in Nassau County, New York. Design and participants: Questionnaires were distributed to 100 internal medicine residents and attending physicians. They were asked to report: whether they had ever been assaulted or battered either by patients or by relatives of patients; the point in their medical train ing at which such episodes had occurred; the nature and severity of th e violent episodes; and the circumstances surrounding such episodes. R esults: Questionnaires were returned by 63 physicians (response rate, 63%). Ten physicians (16% of the respondents) reported that they had b een battered, three (5%) on multiple occasions. Twenty-six physicians (41%) reported that they had been assaulted, 15 (24%) on multiple occa sions. The majority (54%) of violent episodes had been instigated eith er by intoxicated patients or by patients with psychiatric histories. In this small sample, no injury was reported. Conclusions: Violence ag ainst medical residents and attending physicians exists and is most co mmonly associated with patients who are intoxicated or who have psychi atric histories.