LAUSR

Objectives This study is conducted to examine whether overall workplace violence (WPV) and its five types are associated with high burn-out among healthcare workers in China. Design A WeChat-based cross-sectional survey. Snowball sampling was used in this study. Participants Front-line healthcare workers (N=3706) from 149 cities across 23 provinces in China responded to the survey, and 22 questionnaires were excluded because of incomplete data. Primary and secondary outcome measures (1) The Chinese Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey was used to measure high burn-out. (2) WPV was assessed using the Chinese version of the Workplace Violence Scale. (3) An anonymous self-designed web-based questionnaire consisting of demographic, behavioural and occupational information was used to identify covariates. Results A total of 3684 front-line healthcare workers (934 physicians and 2750 nurses) were included. Of all participants, 13.3% (491/3193) experienced high burn-out. Adjusted logistic regression revealed that experience of WPV in the past year was associated with high burn-out (OR 2.10, 95% CI 1.69 to 2.62). Healthcare workers who had suffered emotional abuse, threat or verbal sexual harassment were more vulnerable to high burn-out. Conclusion This study finds that healthcare workers with WPV, especially emotional abuse, threat and verbal sexual harassment, are more likely to experience burn-out. These types of WPV should be considered in interventions to reduce and prevent burn-out for healthcare workers.