International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health · Published 2025-12-08 · DOI 10.13075/ijomeh.1896.02640
Objectives Most hospital emergency department (ED) medical staff experience violence from patients and visitors every day, but the level of reporting and documenting acts of violence is very low. The aim of the study was to analyze the reporting of violence from patients and visitors by hospital ED medical staff. Material and Methods The study was conducted retrospectively in the ED of a university hospital in Poland. The department admits 48 000 patients/year. The records kept by nurses and paramedics from 7 years (2017–2023) were analyzed for reports of acts of aggression from patients and visitors. The Python programming language was used for statistical analyses. Results During the 7-year period, 445 cases of violence from patients and visitors were reported, with the number of reports decreasing significantly over the years. The average age of the aggressors was 47 years. Most of them were male (N = 318, 71.5%). Half of the aggressors were under the influence of alcohol (N = 218, 49%). Conclusions The results suggest that not all incidents of violence are reported by staff and that their documentation may be influenced by various factors, both institutional and external. The descriptions of incidents of aggression are short and not very detailed, which makes it difficult to analyze their circumstances and nature. Effective prevention of aggression requires a thorough assessment of the scale and characteristics of this phenomenon. By reporting all incidents of aggression, staff can contribute to a reliable analysis of the problem and thus lead to increased safety in the workplace. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2025;38(6):596–610
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