One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study

Objective To measure the 1 year cumulative incidence of and analyse the risk factors associated with workplace violence directed towards the ambulance service in a Swedish region.Design Prospective cohort study.Setting The ambulance services in Örebro County Council (Sweden) contain approximately 30...

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Main Authors: Lisa Kurland, Karin Hugelius, Erik Höglund, Magnus Viking
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2024-09-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e074939.full
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author Lisa Kurland
Karin Hugelius
Erik Höglund
Magnus Viking
author_facet Lisa Kurland
Karin Hugelius
Erik Höglund
Magnus Viking
author_sort Lisa Kurland
collection DOAJ
description Objective To measure the 1 year cumulative incidence of and analyse the risk factors associated with workplace violence directed towards the ambulance service in a Swedish region.Design Prospective cohort study.Setting The ambulance services in Örebro County Council (Sweden) contain approximately 300 000 inhabitants.Participants All ambulance missions during the period of 12 months (n=28 640) were assessed.Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome measure was workplace violence together with the associated risk factors.Results The 1 year cumulative incidence of workplace violence within the ambulance service was 0.7%. Non-physical violence was most common. There was an increased odds for violence when the patient was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or suffering from mental illness. There was an association between the dispatch categories intoxication, unconsciousness or mental health problems and workplace violence against ambulance personnel. The offenders were mostly men aged 18–29 and workplace violence was more likely to occur in public places.Conclusions The 1 year cumulative incidence of workplace violence within the regional ambulance service was low in comparison to that of previous research. The overall regression model had low explanatory power, indicating that the phenomenon is complex and that additional variables need to be taken into account when trying to predict when workplace violence will occur. Additional research is needed to fully understand why workplace violence within the ambulance service occurs and how to mitigate such situations.
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spelling doaj-art-b373add53a724ef3a2612b4eaa111f362025-08-20T02:36:35ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552024-09-0114910.1136/bmjopen-2023-074939One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort studyLisa Kurland0Karin Hugelius1Erik Höglund2Magnus Viking3Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenFaculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenDepartment of Ambulance Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenDepartment of Ambulance Care, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Örebro University, Örebro, SwedenObjective To measure the 1 year cumulative incidence of and analyse the risk factors associated with workplace violence directed towards the ambulance service in a Swedish region.Design Prospective cohort study.Setting The ambulance services in Örebro County Council (Sweden) contain approximately 300 000 inhabitants.Participants All ambulance missions during the period of 12 months (n=28 640) were assessed.Primary and secondary outcome measures The primary outcome measure was workplace violence together with the associated risk factors.Results The 1 year cumulative incidence of workplace violence within the ambulance service was 0.7%. Non-physical violence was most common. There was an increased odds for violence when the patient was under the influence of alcohol or drugs or suffering from mental illness. There was an association between the dispatch categories intoxication, unconsciousness or mental health problems and workplace violence against ambulance personnel. The offenders were mostly men aged 18–29 and workplace violence was more likely to occur in public places.Conclusions The 1 year cumulative incidence of workplace violence within the regional ambulance service was low in comparison to that of previous research. The overall regression model had low explanatory power, indicating that the phenomenon is complex and that additional variables need to be taken into account when trying to predict when workplace violence will occur. Additional research is needed to fully understand why workplace violence within the ambulance service occurs and how to mitigate such situations.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e074939.full
spellingShingle Lisa Kurland
Karin Hugelius
Erik Höglund
Magnus Viking
One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
BMJ Open
title One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
title_full One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
title_fullStr One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
title_full_unstemmed One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
title_short One year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a Swedish region: a prospective cohort study
title_sort one year cumulative incidence and risk factors associated with workplace violence within the ambulance service in a swedish region a prospective cohort study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/14/9/e074939.full
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