Prevalence and Factors Associated with Violence among Primary and Secondary School Workers in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Introduction: Violence is a major problem in today’s workplace. It affects workers in all sectors of activity. The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence and factors associated with violence among primary and secondary school staff in Ouagadougou. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study that took place from April 22, 2020 to February 18, 2021 in primary and secondary schools in Ouagadougou. It focused on the educational staff of these establishments. Results: A total of 362 agents took part in the study. The average age of participants was 36.5 ± 6.89 years. The sex ratio was 1.62 men to one woman. The majority of workers were teachers, with 300 participants (82.87%). The average job tenure was 7 years ± 6.91 years. With regard to violence in the workplace, 87 workers were victims, representing a prevalence of 24.03%. Of these workers, 59 (67.81%) were men and 36 (41.38%) had less than six years’ experience. Acts of violence were predominantly pushing observed in 15 workers (50%), while shouting and aggressive tone dominated psychological violence and concerned 54 cases (36.24%). On univariate analysis, the factors associated with violence were age (p = 0.046) and type of establishment (p = 0.012). On multivariate analysis, only the nature of the establishment was the only factor associated with the occurrence of violence among teaching staff (OR = 2.3690, p = 0.0213). Conclusion: The prevalence of violence is high in these educational establishments. Age and type of establishment are factors associated with its occurrence. It is therefore necessary to develop an effective strategy for preventing this risk in the workplace.