Aggressive Behavior and Its Triggers Among Hospitalized Stroke Patients’ Entourages Toward Healthcare Staff

 Aggression toward staff and workplace violence are common problems worldwide that not only affect individuals' dignity but also affect their physical and emotional well-being.

 The study was conducted aimed to investigate aggression correlations of hospitalized stroke patients' entourage toward healthcare staff.

 The cross-sectional study data were obtained by examining 194 hospitalized stroke patients’ entourages in a hospital in Iran from September to December 2020. A list of demographic information and patients' records, national institutes of health stroke scale, and hospital satisfaction questionnaire were used for data collection. To analyze data statistical tests such as Chi-square tests, t-test, and multinomial logistic regression analysis were used.

 Prevalence of subjective anger and verbal aggression were 49.5% and 16.5%, respectively. After adjustment for confounding variables, the entourages with an academic education (P < 0.001), spouses of the patients (P = 0.029), and those having less satisfaction with stay aspects and physical comfort of the hospital (P < 0.0005) report more subjective anger and those with academic education (P < 0.001), less satisfied with staff behavior (P < 0.001), and more satisfied with physician care (P < 0.001) showed verbal aggression.

 Subjective anger and verbal aggression are common up to 50% among the entourages of hospitalized stroke patients. Likely paying more attention to the high-risk entourages and providing necessary training in the field of appropriate behaviors with entourages by the medical staff can reduce tension and aggression in stroke patients' entourages.