Risk Factors Associated with Patient Assaults of Home Healthcare Workers

Details

• Personal Author:
  Brightwell W ; Feng, H. Amy ; Galinsky T ; Parsons K ; Pierson K ; Proctor C ; Streit, Jessica M. K.
• Description:
  This study used surveys from 677 home healthcare aides and nurses to explore factors associated with assaults by patients. Among respondents, 4.6% reported one or more patient assaults (being hit, kicked, pinched, shoved, or bitten) during the past year. Logistic regression analysis examined associations between several potential risk factors and assaults. Three factors were significant, including having one or more patients with dementia (OR = 4.31, 95% CI 1.47-12. 67), routinely handling patients (OR = 8.48, 95% CI 1.89-37.94), and perceiving threats of violence by others in and around patients' homes (OR = 4.45, 95% CI 1.75-11.32). Assaults were not significantly associated with worker age, gender, race, job title, hours of work, or use of needles during patient care. Assaulted workers and workers who perceived threats of violence by others were significantly more likely to have shortened home care visits. More detailed research is needed to confirm these results and evaluate methods to reduce assault risk. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Demography Health Personnel Mental Disorders Mental Health Occupational Exposure Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Home Care Demographic-characteristics Health-care-personnel Injuries Injury-prevention Medical-personnel Mental-disorders Mental-illness Nurses Nursing Occupational-hazards Occupational-health-nursing Risk-analysis Risk-factors Safe Patient Handling Statistical-analysis

  More +
• ISSN:
  0278-4807
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DART - Division of Applied Research and Technology
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  206-215
• Volume:
  35
• Issue:
  5
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20037521
• Citation:
  Rehabil Nurs 2010 Sep/Oct; 35(5):206-215
• Email:
  tgalinsky@cdc.gov
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Disease and Injury: Low Back Disorders
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Rehabilitation Nursing
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:f1d04e2d0b62a5e9ff459bf6c846715c37ac6dbaf686be75eb9431fa8dc172a586fa6352c7f630b4c898b6297562acbbb363b2b2f4316d803c797cd937bc0c58
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188602/cdc_188602_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 688.80 KB ]