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.