Disruptive Office Behaviors in the Medical Setting: Associations with Other Clinical Phenomena

[摘要] Aggression and violence in the medical setting appear to be on the increase. In support of this impression, a number of studies have documented surprising rates of such behavior toward trainees as well as physicians-in-practice. However, to date, these studies have focused on the experiences and reports of professionals, not patient offenders. In a series of investigations, we examined aggressive and disruptive office behaviors from the perspective of the perpetrators—the patients. Findings from these studies indicate that disruptive office behaviors by patients appear to be related to borderline personality symptomatology, alcohol/drug misuse, prescription medication abuse, and higher rates of past mental healthcare utilization. The results of these studies suggest a rudimentary psychological profile for the aggressive patient in the primary care setting.

[学科分类] 精神健康和精神病学

[关键词] Aggressive patient;aggressive behavior;primary care;borderline personality disorder;borderline personality symptomatology;alcohol misuse;drug misuse;prescription medication abuse;mental healthcare utilization