Measurement and Prevalence of Aggression

Violence in the healthcare setting is a complex issue, with many different types of violence that impact patients, workers, and the clinical environment. Violence is also a common problem in the healthcare workplace, with rate and severity dependent upon the setting, and the highest rates are typically found in psychiatric settings. Many aspects of patient care are impacted by aggression and violence, including patient safety, quality of care and outcomes, and therapeutic relationships with caregivers. Measuring the prevalence and severity of violence is difficult because there are many characteristics of the phenomenon in clinical settings. Many settings have active programmes to reduce the use of coercive interventions and have reduced rates of use of restraint and seclusion. This chapter offers insight into this complex field of research as well as an overview of scales typically used for this purpose.