Violence towards physical therapists in Spain, a retrospective observational study

Resumen

An observational, descriptive and cross-sectional study was carried out among Physiotherapists collegiates in Spain, who have worked for at least 3 months in direct care with patients. The aim of this study is to know the percentage of physiotherapists suffering from type two violence (sexual, physical or psychological/verbal violence in their clinical role) in Spain, as well as professional, clinical or personal variables that might be related to violence prevalence against physiotherapists by patients or their relatives/companions. In addition, the responses offered by the physical therapists and their perception of the results obtained have been consulted, as well as any personal consequences at health and work. The study was emailed though Physiotherapists´ Colleges and/or disseminated through their webs from January to March 2022. Data were collected through an online form. After being informed of the objectives of the study, they voluntarily completed the data though an anonymous questionnaire. Data confidentiality was ensured through the use of Microsoft Forms software (Microsoft Office, Microsoft Corporation, USA) pursuant to an agreement with the University of A Coruña. The whole description of the methodology used has been published in: “Elaboración de un cuestionario sobre violencia(s) sufrida(s) por profesionales del ámbito de la Fisioterapia” [Developing a questionnaire about violence(s) suffered by professionals in the field of Physiotherapy] in Revista espanola de salud publica 97: e202306048  (2023-06-09). PMID: 37293946. ISSN (electronic): 2173-9110. Additional related data collected that was not included in the current data package:2.942 respondents who agreed to participate and who had treated patients were obtained, but 9 answers were eliminated because of inconsistence in answers or because few cases of sex other were present, resulting 2.933 cases. In addition, some changes in presentation of data has been made: information on the autonomous community of origin and description of violent episodes by physiotherapists in their own words were eliminated. Age and clinical experience were collected in years but have been regrouped due to ethical restrictions; also, practice settings with low number of responses were included in the category “others” in order to protect anonymity. Responses with inconsistencies (for example, between age and clinical experience) were excluded. Due to ethical restrictions, some questions have been eliminated or regrouped to guarantee anonymity. Keywords: Workplace Violence, Prevalence, Physical Therapy, Risk factors (associated factors); Sexual harassment, physical abuse, job satisfaction Information about funding sources or sponsorship that supported the collection of the data: This work has been sponsored by the General Council of Colleges of Physiotherapists in Spain.[Consejo General de Colegios de Fisioterapeutas de España]. Resources from Universidade da Coruña (University of A Coruna) have been employed.  It has been also supported by MICINN grant PID2020-113578RB-I00, the Xunta de Galicia (Grupos de Referencia Competitiva ED431C-2020-14). We wish to acknowledge the support received from the Centro de Investigación de Galicia “CITIC”, funded by Xunta de Galicia and the European Union. Citation for and links to publications that cite or use the data: Boo-Mallo, T., Pérez-Caramés, A., Domínguez-Rodríguez, A., Oviedo-de-la-Fuente, M., Martínez-Rodríguez, A. Violence towards physical therapists in Spain, a retrospective observational study.  Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10599701