The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians
Abstract Background Physicians commonly suffer from workplace aggression and its negative consequences. Previous studies have shown that stressors such as job demands increase the risk of inappropriate treatment at workplace. Poorly functioning, and constantly changing information systems form a maj...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-05-01
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| Series: | BMC Health Services Research |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08116-w |
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| author | Heidi Urnberg Kia Gluschkoff Petra Saukkonen Marko Elovainio Jukka Vänskä Tarja Heponiemi |
| author_facet | Heidi Urnberg Kia Gluschkoff Petra Saukkonen Marko Elovainio Jukka Vänskä Tarja Heponiemi |
| author_sort | Heidi Urnberg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Physicians commonly suffer from workplace aggression and its negative consequences. Previous studies have shown that stressors such as job demands increase the risk of inappropriate treatment at workplace. Poorly functioning, and constantly changing information systems form a major work stressor for physicians. The current study examined the association between physicians’ stress attributed to information systems (SAIS) and their experiences of workplace aggression. Workplace aggression covered physical and non-physical aggression, perpetrated by coworkers, patients, patient’s relatives, or supervisors. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. The participants included 2786 physicians (67.4% women) who were sampled randomly from the registry of Finnish Medical Association, which covers almost all of the Finnish physician population. First, bivariate associations were studied among participant characteristics, SAIS and workplace aggression. Logistic regression analysis was then used to further determine how SAIS was associated with the likelihood of experiencing different types of aggression. Results Higher levels of SAIS were associated with higher likelihood of aggression with regard to all types of aggression, except non-physical aggression perpetrated by patients or relatives. The demographic factors (work-sector, gender, age) did not have a noticeable influence on the association between SAIS and aggression. Conclusions The present results build on previous evidence on the prevalence of SAIS and its negative effects on healthcare workers. Since SAIS may increase the risk of experiencing aggression, it is possible that SAIS also endangers the wellbeing of physicians and thereby the quality of patient care. Resourcing time and training during introduction of a new IS could alleviate time pressure and thus stress attributed to managing new information systems. The role of organizational climate and general workload in arousing SAIS and aggression should be examined in future studies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:15:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-54f91fb7d3bd499bac6b2949fa4b59c7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1472-6963 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-12T03:15:22Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Health Services Research |
| spelling | doaj.art-54f91fb7d3bd499bac6b2949fa4b59c72022-12-22T00:40:18ZengBMCBMC Health Services Research1472-69632022-05-0122111010.1186/s12913-022-08116-wThe association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physiciansHeidi Urnberg0Kia Gluschkoff1Petra Saukkonen2Marko Elovainio3Jukka Vänskä4Tarja Heponiemi5Department of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of HelsinkiDepartment of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of HelsinkiFinnish Institute for Health and WelfareDepartment of Psychology and Logopedics, Faculty of Medicine, University of HelsinkiThe Finnish Medical AssociationFinnish Institute for Health and WelfareAbstract Background Physicians commonly suffer from workplace aggression and its negative consequences. Previous studies have shown that stressors such as job demands increase the risk of inappropriate treatment at workplace. Poorly functioning, and constantly changing information systems form a major work stressor for physicians. The current study examined the association between physicians’ stress attributed to information systems (SAIS) and their experiences of workplace aggression. Workplace aggression covered physical and non-physical aggression, perpetrated by coworkers, patients, patient’s relatives, or supervisors. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was conducted. The participants included 2786 physicians (67.4% women) who were sampled randomly from the registry of Finnish Medical Association, which covers almost all of the Finnish physician population. First, bivariate associations were studied among participant characteristics, SAIS and workplace aggression. Logistic regression analysis was then used to further determine how SAIS was associated with the likelihood of experiencing different types of aggression. Results Higher levels of SAIS were associated with higher likelihood of aggression with regard to all types of aggression, except non-physical aggression perpetrated by patients or relatives. The demographic factors (work-sector, gender, age) did not have a noticeable influence on the association between SAIS and aggression. Conclusions The present results build on previous evidence on the prevalence of SAIS and its negative effects on healthcare workers. Since SAIS may increase the risk of experiencing aggression, it is possible that SAIS also endangers the wellbeing of physicians and thereby the quality of patient care. Resourcing time and training during introduction of a new IS could alleviate time pressure and thus stress attributed to managing new information systems. The role of organizational climate and general workload in arousing SAIS and aggression should be examined in future studies.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08116-wAggressionViolenceInformation systemsSAISJob demandWork stress |
| spellingShingle | Heidi Urnberg Kia Gluschkoff Petra Saukkonen Marko Elovainio Jukka Vänskä Tarja Heponiemi The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians BMC Health Services Research Aggression Violence Information systems SAIS Job demand Work stress |
| title | The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians |
| title_full | The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians |
| title_fullStr | The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians |
| title_full_unstemmed | The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians |
| title_short | The association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression: a cross-sectional survey study among Finnish physicians |
| title_sort | association between stress attributed to information systems and the experience of workplace aggression a cross sectional survey study among finnish physicians |
| topic | Aggression Violence Information systems SAIS Job demand Work stress |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-022-08116-w |
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