[Aggression faced by doctors during social service in Mexico].

OBJECTIVES: Physicians during their work activities have been exposed to suffering physical and non-physical aggression (insults, threats, sexual assaults and even murder) by patients. The frequency of such attacks has increased in recent years. The aim of this study is to identify the risk of attacks on physicians associated with the type of work place that health institutions have assigned them for their year of social service in Mexico.

METHODS: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted during 2012 of 371 physicians who were assigned to work in various community health centers called type "A", "B" or "C".

RESULTS: Having worked in a work place type "C" was associated with physical aggression (OR: 2.32; 95% CI: 1.03-5.37), threats (OR: 2.64; 95% CI: 1.43-4.93), and insults (OR: 2.28; 95% CI: 1.35-3.88).

CONCLUSIONS: The results should be interpreted with caution, but they suggest that physicians who are assigned to work in the places type "C" (where they must care for patients in a solitary manner and at night) during the year of social service in Mexico have a significant risk of being attacked.