Title
Workplace Bullying and Patient Aggression Related to COVID-19 and its Association with Psychological Distress among Health Care Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Japan
Date Issued
01 December 2021
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Asaoka H.
Sasaki N.
Kuroda R.
Tsuno K.
Kawakami N.
Abstract
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has spread throughout the world. Poor mental health has been reported among healthcare professionals responding to COVID-19. However, no study has examined the impact of COVID-19-related workplace bullying or patient aggression on the mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study examined the prevalence of COVID-19-related workplace bullying and patient aggression and its association with psychological distress among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak in Japan. This was a cross-sectional study conducted from May 22 to 26, 2020, inviting participants (n = 1,421) from an online survey of full-time employees. We limited the sample to healthcare professionals for further analyses. Using an online self-report questionnaire, workplace bullying and patient aggression related to COVID-19 was measured using nine items with dichotomous response options. Psychological distress was measured using the Japanese version of Brief Job Stress Questionnaire. Among 1,032 participants (72.6%) who completed the survey, 111 healthcare professionals were identified. Among them, 19 participants (17.1%) had experienced any COVID-19-related workplace bullying or patient aggression: 11 participants (9.9%) had experienced any workplace bullying and 12 participants (10.8%) had experienced any patient aggression. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that any bullying or patient aggression related to COVID-19 significantly correlated with psychological distress. It was suggested that a non-negligible proportion of participants experienced workplace bullying or patient aggression related to COVID-19. Preventing and reducing workplace bullying and patient aggression may be effective in improving mental health of healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Start page
283
End page
289
Volume
255
Issue
4
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Enfermedades infecciosas
Psicología (incluye relaciones hombre-máquina)
Salud ocupacional
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85122154891
PubMed ID
Source
Tohoku Journal of Experimental Medicine
ISSN of the container
00408727
Sponsor(s)
relation to the subject of the manuscript. N.K. reports grants from SB AtWork Corp., Fujitsu Ltd., and TAK Ltd., personal fees from the Occupational Health Foundation, SB AtWork Corp., RIKEN, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Japan Dental Association, Sekisui Chemicals, Junpukai Health Care Center, Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, outside the submitted work.
The authors thank all participants in this study. This work was supported by the Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI) (A) from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (No. 18H04072) (to Norito Kawakami) and internal funds of the Department of Mental Health, Graduate School of Medicine, The University of Tokyo.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus