Prevalence and factors associated with workplace violence against diagnostic radiographers in Ghana: A nationwide cross-sectional study

Background

Workplace violence is associated with anxiety, depression, job dissatisfaction, burnout, absenteeism, staff replacement costs and productivity loss. However, no study has investigated the issue of workplace violence against diagnostic radiographers in Ghana. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with workplace violence against diagnostic radiographers in Ghana.

Methods

An anonymous, online, nationwide cross-sectional study was conducted from 31st January to 22nd July 2024. The survey contained questions on socio-demographic characteristics, physical violence, verbal abuse, bullying/mobbing, sexual harassment and cultural/ethnic harassment. Binomial and multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to predict the factors associated with workplace violence. A p-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

A total of 209 diagnostic radiographers responded to the online survey. In total, 26.3 % (n = 55/209) of the respondents were within the age group 25–29 years, and 53.6 % (n = 112/209) were males. The 12-month prevalence of workplace violence among the respondents was 93.8 % ([95 % CI: 89.6–96.6]; p < 0.001). The most prevalent forms of workplace violence were verbal abuse (n = 175/209, 83.7 %), physical violence (n = 110/209, 52.6 %) and cultural/ethnic threat (n = 93/209, 44.5 %). Factors significantly linked to experiencing any form of workplace violence in both unadjusted and adjusted models were level of education and being worried about violence.

Conclusion

Workplace violence is common among diagnostic radiographers in Ghana and victims hardly report the incident to the relevant authorities. It is recommended that future research use a qualitative approach to gain a comprehensive understanding of the factors that facilitate or hinder the reporting of workplace violence among diagnostic radiographers.

Implications for practice

Investigating workplace violence could help design and implement multifaceted interventions to ensure safe and healthy working environments for healthcare professionals, including diagnostic and therapeutic radiographers in Ghana.