217 Effects of workplace violence on Taiwan hospital security guards’ mental and physical health during the COVID-19 pandemic

Aims We investigated the mental and physical health (MPH) effects of workplace violence (WPV) on Taiwan hospital security guards during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in three hospitals in Taiwan from July, 2021 to June, 2022. All security guards in the selected hospitals were asked to complete a semi-structured ‘violence questionnaire’ addressing type (physical, psychological, verbal violence, and sexual harassment) and 12-item Chinese Health Questionnaire (Taiwan version) (CHQ-12). Results A total of 110 hospital guards out of 120 completed the questionnaire. In all, 46% indicated they had experienced some form of WPV, 42% had experienced verbal violence (VV), 31% had experienced physical violence (PHV) 14% had experienced psychological violence (PSV) and 6% had experienced sexual harassment (SH). The CHQ-12 scores of victims and others were 3.5±2.4 and 2.1±1.1, respectively (p<.001). The correlation coefficients between WPV and MPH were.29 (p<.01),.27, (p<.01),.39 (p<.001).12 (p=.23) and.29 (p<.01) for VV, PHV, PSV, SH and any type of WPV, respectively. Conclusions Hospital security guards in Taiwan who experienced WPV during the COVID-19 pandemic had higher CHQ-12 scores indicating poor MPH than those who had not experienced WPV. WPV would significantly affect MPH, except for SH.