Workplace Bullying Among Alopecia Areata Patients: Speaking up Leads to Negative Consequences for Some
Workplace bullying is a persistent pattern of mistreatment from others in the workplace that causes either physical or emotional harm.
Authors of a new study set out to better understand the frequency of workplace bullying among patients with alopecia areata and how bullying was addressed.
Authors used a questionnaire known as the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised Scale to assess bullying. This is a 22- item validated tool assesses workplace bullying within the last 6 months using a 5-point Likert scale corresponding to frequency of events. Scores range from 22 to 110 and correspond to being never bullied (<40), occasionally bullied (40–56), and severely bullied (>56)
The questionnaire was administered to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation database to evaluate workplace bullying in patients with AA.
There were 673 patients who ultimately met the inclusion criteria completed the survey. Most respondents were female (n = 537, 79.8%) and Caucasian (n = 508, 75.5%) with an average age of 46.8 years. Most patients were employed full-time (n = 427, 63.4%)
1 in 5 Patients with AA are Bullied
21.67% (n = 146) of individuals with AA experience workplace bullying with an average NAQ-R score of 56.1. This corresponds to the cut off for being considered ‘severely bullied’
