SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1624191
A Scoping Review of Workplace Violence in Singapore Healthcare
Provisionally accepted
- Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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Introduction: Workplace violence (WPV) has plagued the healthcare settings, endangering healthcare workers who are striving to prioritise patient care. This scoping review aims to explores the prevalence, characteristics, risk factors, and interventions addressing WPV in Singapore's healthcare sector.Methods: Employing Arksey and O'Malley framework and PRISMA guidelines, systematic searches were conducted in MEDLINE, PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect for studies published between 2003 and 2023. Grey literature and government reports were also reviewed. Inclusion criteria focused on primary studies conducted in Singapore involving healthcare workers (HCWs) as WPV victims. Data were extracted on study characteristics, prevalence, risk factors, and interventions.Results: Eight studies met the inclusion criteria, indicating a high and increasing prevalence of WPV. Verbal abuse was the most reported form, followed by physical violence. Key risk factors included alcohol intoxication and patient dissatisfaction. Existing interventions, such as online reporting systems, self-defense training, and aggression management workshops, lacked standardization and effectiveness. HCWs proposed enhanced police protection, advanced alert systems for repeat offenders, stricter legal consequences, and public awareness campaigns.Discussion: Underreporting was identified to be a key factor in the persisting prevalence of WPV. The implementation of the Tripartite Framework, alongside the development of a robust reporting system, could reduce instances of underreporting, thereby providing a more accurate representation of the extent of WPV. Employing the Haddon Matrix may offer a comprehensive approach to analyzing the issue and informing targeted interventions.Conclusion: WPV persists in Singapore's healthcare sector. While the Tripartite Framework is a step forward, further integration of HCW-recommended strategies is needed. Future research should evaluate its impact on WPV reduction.
Keywords: Workplace abuse, Workplace violence (WPV), healthcare worker (HCW), abuse, Violence
Received: 07 May 2025; Accepted: 11 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Sing and Lau. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Phoebe Sing, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
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