Graduate of the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, Master of Science degree program and a clinical dental hygienist from the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University, Boston, MA, USA.
Professor and interim dean from the Forsyth School of Dental Hygiene, MCPHS University, Boston, MA, USA.
J Dent Hyg. 2021 Aug;95(4):14-22.
Workplace violence (WPV) and inappropriate patient sexual behavior (IPSB) have become increasingly prevalent in the United States. Previous research has shown health care professionals are at a 16-times higher risk of experiencing WPV and IPSB than other occupations, however, there is a lack of research in the field of dental hygiene. The purpose of the study was to examine the experiences of dental hygienists with IPSB in the workplace. A cross-sectional survey research design was used with a purposive sample of clinical dental hygienists recruited through social media sites (n=471). The validated survey was comprised of demographic and IPSB-related questions, with one open-ended question to expand on experiences with IPSB. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's correlation, t-tests and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The survey completion rate was 49% (n=232). Career occurrence of IPSB was 85.8% and occurrence within the last 12-month period was 63.5% among the respondents. Participants who experienced all three categories of IPSB severity had the lowest median number of years in clinical practice (Md.=5.0) as compared to those who reported two categories (Md.=7) and those with only one category (Md.=10), =0.01. Themes from the open-ended questions included types of patient perpetrating IPSB; type of IPSB behavior; and approaches to management of the IPSB. The high prevalence of IPSB events among dental hygienists in this study warrants increased practitioner education, improved workplace policy and support for management of IPSB.
工作场所暴力（WPV）和不当的患者性行为（IPSB）在美国越来越普遍。先前的研究表明，医疗保健专业人员遭受 WPV 和 IPSB 的风险比其他职业高 16 倍，然而，在牙科保健领域缺乏相关研究。本研究的目的是调查牙科保健师在工作场所中遭受 IPSB 的经历。采用横断面调查研究设计，通过社交媒体网站（n=471）对临床牙科保健师进行了有针对性的抽样。经过验证的调查包括人口统计学和 IPSB 相关问题，以及一个开放式问题，以扩展 IPSB 的相关经历。使用描述性统计、皮尔逊相关性、t 检验和多元回归分析来分析数据。调查完成率为 49%（n=232）。受访者中，职业生涯中发生 IPSB 的比例为 85.8%，过去 12 个月内发生 IPSB 的比例为 63.5%。与报告发生两类 IPSB（Md.=7）和仅发生一类 IPSB（Md.=10）的参与者相比，经历所有三类 IPSB 严重程度的参与者的临床实践中位数年数最低（Md.=5.0），=0.01。开放式问题的主题包括患者实施 IPSB 的类型；IPSB 行为的类型；以及 IPSB 管理方法。本研究中牙科保健师 IPSB 事件的高发生率需要增加从业者教育、改善工作场所政策和支持 IPSB 的管理。
