Prevalence, risk factors and psychological consequences of workplace violence among health workers in the Greater Accra region, Ghana: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: Globally, close to one-third of all workplace violence (WV) occurs in the health sector. Exposure to WV among healthcare professionals in Ghana has been widely speculated, but there is limited evidence on the problem. This study therefore investigated WV, its risk factors, and the psychological consequences experienced by health workers in Ghana. METHODS: An analytic cross-sectional study was conducted in the Greater Accra region from January 30 to May 31, 2023, involving selected health facilities. The participants for the study were selected using a simple random sampling technique based on probability proportional-to-size. The data analyses were performed using STATA 15 software. Logistic regression analyses were employed to identify the factors associated with WV, considering a significance level of p-value < 0.05. RESULTS: The study was conducted among 607 healthcare providers and support personnel across 10 public and private hospitals. The lifetime career, and one-year exposure to any form of WV was 414 (68.2%) [95% CI: (64.3-71.9%)] and 363 (59.8%) [95% CI: (55.8-63.7%)], respectively. Compared to other forms of WV, the majority of healthcare workers, 324 (53.4%) experienced verbal abuse within the past year, and a greater proportion, 85 (26.2%) became 'super alert' or vigilant and watchful following incidents of verbal abuse. Factors significantly linked to experiencing any form of WV in the previous 12 months were identified as follows: older age [AOR = 1.11 (1.06, 1.17)], working experience [AOR = 0.91 (0.86, 0.96)], having on-call responsibilities [AOR = 1.75 (1.17, 2.61)], and feeling adequately secure within health facility [AOR = 0.45 (0.26, 0.76)]. CONCLUSION: There was high occurrence of WV, and verbal abuse was the most experienced form of WV. Age, work experience, on-call duties, and security within workplace were associated with exposure to WV. Facility-based interventions are urgently needed to curb the incidence of WV, especially verbal abuse.

Occupational health hazards among healthcare providers and ancillary staff in Ghana: a scoping review.

OBJECTIVE: The strict implementation of occupational health and safety policy curbs exposure to occupational hazards. However, empirical evidence is lacking in the Ghanaian context. This review primarily aimed to explore exposure to occupational hazards among healthcare providers and ancillary staff in Ghana. DESIGN: A scoping review was conducted based on Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and Levac et al's methodological enhancement. DATA SOURCES: Searches were conducted of the PubMed, MEDLINE, CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO and Scopus databases, as well as Google Scholar and websites of tertiary institutions in Ghana, for publications from 1 January 2010 to 30 November 2021. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA: Quantitative studies that were published in the English language and focused on occupational exposure to biological and/or non-biological hazards among healthcare professionals in Ghana were included. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two independent reviewers extracted the data based on the type of occupational exposure and descriptive characteristics of the studies. The data are presented in tables and graphs. A narrative summary of review findings was prepared based on the review research questions. RESULTS: Our systematic search strategy retrieved 507 publications; however, only 43 met the inclusion criteria. A little over one-quarter were unpublished theses/dissertations. The included studies were related to biological, psychosocial, ergonomic and other non-biological hazards. 55.8% of the studies were related to exposure to biological hazards and related preventive measures. In general, health workers were reported to use and comply with control and preventive measures; however, knowledge of control and preventive measures was suboptimal. CONCLUSION: Work is needed to address the issue of occupational health hazard exposure in Ghana's health system. More research is needed to understand the extent of these exposures and their effects on the health system.