A systems approach to doctor-patient disputes in mainland China

Abstract

Introduction: A good doctor-patient relationship has been regarded as a key component of health care, facilitating both diagnosis and management of patients. However, doctor-patient disputes in China, including violence towards health care professionals, have increasingly captured national and international attention and have become a major public health issue. Method: Electronic databases including PubMed were searched regarding disputes or violence involving healthcare professionals. Google were used to access the grey literature. China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) were used to search for Chinese. The critical appraisal skills programme qualitative research checklist􀀅CASP was used to assess the quality of involved articles.􀀆 Results: A total number of 22 articles including 10 English articles and 12 Chinese articles were selected for analysis to identify the main factors contributing to doctor-patient disputes in China. Potential factors can be divided into three categories: healthcare system, medical staff and patients. Of note, the healthcare system can also contribute to staff and patient factors. Conclusion: Violence towards healthcare professionals endangers staff, impacts morale and may discourage individuals from joining the heath profession. Moreover, doctor-patient disputes are barriers to effective management. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of the multifactorial causes of doctor-patient disputes is needed. Interventions should consider the contributing factors from each stakeholder in order to formulate an effective policy to reduce doctor-patient disputes in Mainland China.