Patient initiated aggression and violence in Australian general practice

Abstract

Background: Aggressive and violent behaviour by patients, or their relatives or friends, toward general practice staff is a matter of national concern. Forms of this behaviour include verbal and physical abuse, property damage, theft, stalking, sexual harassment and sexual abuse. Methods: To determine the prevalence of patient initiated aggression and violence in Australian general practice a review of the literature was undertaken. Electronic databases were searched for relevant articles from 1989-2009. Results: Four regional Australian studies and one national New Zealand study were identified for comparison. These studies provided varied data on the prevalence of patient aggression and vi..