Assessment of violence against patients by healthcare providers at the point of service delivery in Sekyere south district

While violence against healthcare workers has been widely studied, violence against patients (VAP) by healthcare professionals remains underreported and poorly addressed. Scrutinizing patients’ feedback is crucial to understanding VAP, preventing abuse recurrence, and strengthening the healthcare system’s integrity. The purpose of the study was to help determine the prevalence, extent, and healthcare workers category associated with VAP.

Quantitative research approach was used and was non-interventional descriptive cross-sectional. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square, logistic regression and bivariate regression in SPSS (version 22). 368 patients and 37 management members from six health facilities in Sekyere South District, Ghana. Simple random sampling was used.

Sexual and physical abuse were the least common forms of VAP, reported by 2% and 4% of respondents, respectively. Verbal abuse and negligence accounted for about 70% of cases. Despite VAP reporting rates being low: physical abuse (< 6%) and discrimination (~ 8%) being the least and most reported respectively. Healthcare workers with more years of practice are more likely to receive reports than those with fewer years.

The study highlights various forms of VAP by healthcare workers, including physical, verbal, sexual, discrimination, and negligence, with discrimination being most common. There is major underreporting of VAP. Notably, records staff, doctors, and midwives/nurses are significantly associated with various types of VAP.