[Aggressiveness and violence in daily ophthalmology practice: Descriptive analysis of a survey sent to residents and assistants in Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté]

Abstract

Introduction: The goal of this study was to estimate the prevalence of workplace violence in a population of young ophthalmologists in France and to characterize these situations.

Methods: We conducted an epidemiological descriptive, cross-sectional, multi-center study based on an anonymous questionnaire. We submitted a questionnaire to all ophthalmology residents and fellows (n=157) in the Grand Est and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté regions between December 2020 and March 2021.

Results: The overall response rate was 76.4% (n=120, 55% female and 45% male) of whom 81.6% reported having faced aggression at least once. For 50.9% of participants, aggression had occurred several times per year. These situations occurred during the first year of residency in 64.3% of cases. They mainly consisted of verbal aggression (98.8%) by a patient or their relatives (43.7% and 29.8%). The main complaints voiced by these individuals concerned the wait time (40%) and the feeling of lack of competence or improper medical care (26.8%). Fifty-seven percent of people who faced these situations thought about it for at least a week, and 20.4% of those exposed felt anxiety at work after the incident.

Conclusion: We found high prevalence of verbal aggression in professional ophthalmology practice. Although these situations were mainly verbal aggression without significant consequences, they sometimes lead to anxiety in the aftermath. We should prepare medical students to manage them, through appropriate theoretical and practical training, such as medical simulation described in this article.

Keywords: Aggressiveness; Agressivité; Antisocial behaviour; Incivilités; Medical simulation; Prevention; Prévention; Simulation médicale; Violence au travail; Workplace violence.