Prevalence of Violent Behavior among Medical Students of Lahore and its Association with Socio-demographic Factors

Abstract

Background: Violence has been declared a major health issue by World health assembly in 1996. Violence has been associated with mental health problems and factors related to exposure to various forms of victimization. Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the prevalence of violent behavior among medical college students of Lahore and its association with socio-demographic factors. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Central Park Medical College Lahore, Pakistan. Duration: The duration of the study was six months starting from March 2021 to August 2021.Methods: The data was collected from self-structured questionnaire from private medical colleges in Lahore. The reliability of the questionnaire was tested through Cronbach alpha which was 0.84. The questionnaire was designed to collect information on demographic factors, victimization and violence. Results: The data was collected from 401 medical students currently enrolled in the medical colleges of Lahore, Pakistan. The mean age of the students participated in the study was 21.23 + 1.81 years. The prevalence rate of violence in our study was observed as 8%. Conclusion: The prevalence of violence was higher among male students. Verbal abuse and hearing insulting words were the most common form of victimization in our society. Physical abuse and verbal abuse were the observed significant factors for violence.