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Does acute stress disorder predict posttraumatic stress disorder following workplace violence? A prospective study of psychiatric staff

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Abstract

Objectives

Psychiatric staff is at risk of workplace violence (WV) and subsequent posttraumatic symptomatology. The current study assesses the prevalence of acute stress disorder (ASD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in psychiatric staff following WV. This also examines the prospective association between ASD and PTSD.

Methods

This is a prospective cohort study of staff from 18 psychiatric wards in Denmark (n = 250), that reported an incident of workplace violence.

Results

The prevalence of ASD was 10.8%, while 8% had PTSD 3 months post-assault. Generalized linear mixed models showed a significant predictive power of ASD on PTSD (OR 8.45, p < 0.001) in the fully adjusted model.

Conclusions

ASD seems to be a predictor of future PTSD in an occupational context and should be considered a possible instrument in enactment of preventive strategies.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Council of the Danish Victims Fund (17-910-00066) for funding.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Center of Psychotraumatology, Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Sara Al Ali, Jesper Pihl-Thingvad & Ask Elklit

  2. Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Odense University Hospital Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Sara Al Ali & Jesper Pihl-Thingvad

Authors
  1. Sara Al Ali
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  2. Jesper Pihl-Thingvad
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  3. Ask Elklit
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sara Al Ali.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

The project was conducted in accordance with the applicable code of ethics for Nordic psychologists. The collected data are stored in accordance with the Data Inspectorate’s rules for research projects. The study was approved by the Danish Data Agency.

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Al Ali, S., Pihl-Thingvad, J. & Elklit, A. Does acute stress disorder predict posttraumatic stress disorder following workplace violence? A prospective study of psychiatric staff. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 94, 359–366 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-020-01586-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-020-01586-7

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