The 1997 IAHSS survey--crime in hospitals.

As useful as the IAHSS crime surveys conducted between 1987 and 1996 have been in demonstrating to JCAHO, AHA, and others about the nature and scope of crime in healthcare facilities, problems in data compilation that have caused concern about the survey format have resulted in a number of changes in the 1997 survey. Readers are cautioned that what seems to be a drop in crime in some of the categories in the 1997 survey may well be the result of changes in definition of these categories. More years of data will have to be accumulated before valid comparisons can be made.