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Background: Workplace violence is any physical assault, threatening behavior or verbal abuse in circumstances relating to work, involving an explicit or implicit challenge to the safety, well-being or health of the employee. Doctors are facing violence in increasing numbers and there are less data available. Hence the study was carried out in an attempt to identify the magnitude of these problems and to assess the attitudes of the doctors regarding this problem. Objectives: To determine the prevalence and attitude of workplace violence among the postgraduate students. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to June, 2011, at the Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, Manipur. A self-administered questionnaire was used among the postgraduate students and findings expressed in the form of percentages. Chi-square test was used. Data were analyzed using database software. Ethical approval was obtained from RIMS Institutional ethics committee. Results: Of the total 286 PG students, 230 responded. 78.26% had experienced at least one form of violence, with the escorts of the patients committing 68.33% of the violence. Verbal threats were the commonest form. Maximum violence was committed at the emergency services (48.88%). Male doctors faced more workplace violence than females (P < 0.001). 78.26% of the respondents wanted work place violence to be a non-bailable offence. Conclusion: Our study found a high prevalence of workplace violence. Doctors face the possibility of being victims of aggressive and violent incidents while caring for the patients. Hence doctor's view regarding the punishment for workplace violence as a non-bailable offence should be taken into consideration.
Devi et al. (Wed,) studied this question.