San Diego, CA – October 1, 2025
This press release was originally published on Businesswire and YahooFinance
New findings from the ABRAT TM -H interventional study, involving over 7,000 hospitalized
patients, demonstrate significant reductions in patient violence and physical assaults, mirroring
the positive outcomes previously observed in the Aggressive Behavior Risk Assessment Tool
for Emergency Departments (ABRAT TM -ED) study of over 77,000 patients in the ED setting (SC
Kim et al., JACEP Open 2024; 5(4): e13206).
The ABRAT TM -H study concludes that screening with the Aggressive Behavior Risk
Assessment Tool for Hospitalized Patients (ABRAT TM -H), combined with targeted signage
posting, with or without Behavioral Health Response Nurse (BHRN) rounding for the high-risk
patients, was effective in preventing violence and physical assaults among hospitalized
patients.
Study Design and Methodology
The ABRAT TM -H study was conducted in Omaha, Nebraska, USA, from November 2024 to
August 2025, focusing on hospitalized patients, whereas the ABRAT TM -ED study was
conducted among patients who visited two EDs in Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA. The
ABRAT TM -ED study evaluated more than 77,000 patients visiting EDs and was a 10-month
prospective interventional study.
Both ABRAT TM -H and ABRAT TM -ED studies utilized similar designs with a baseline
observational period and two interventions introduced in a stepwise fashion. The violent event
types and severities data were captured using the Violent Event Severity Tool (VEST TM )
In the two studies, patients at high risk for violence in ED or inpatient-hospital settings were
identified using the ABRAT TM -ED or ABRAT TM -H screening tools, respectively. Following the
baseline observational periods, the interventions implemented stepwise were:
Phase 1: Simple signage posting for high-risk patients per ABRAT TM -ED or ABRAT TM -H.
Phase 2: A proactive Behavioral Emergency Response Team (BERT) huddle or Behavioral
Health Response Nurse (BHRN) rounding added to the signage posting for the high-risk
patients.
Similar Positive Results in Violence Reduction
The ABRAT TM -H study for hospitalized patients showed similar positive results as those
demonstrated for patients visiting the ED in the ABRAT TM -ED study, i.e. significant decreases in
overall violence rates as well as reductions in physical assaults.
In the earlier ABRAT TM -ED study, the intervention of signage posting alone (Phase 1) was
found to be effective in reducing violent events. The relative risk (RR) of violent events for
Phase 1 compared to the baseline was 0.73, a statistically significant reduction in violence (p =
0.003).
The positive results from these two interventional studies confirm that the ABRAT TM -H and
ABRAT TM -ED are the only validated tools shown to reduce violence in two separate settings,
i.e. EDs and hospital inpatient units, through identification of potentially violent patients. Dr.
Christina Vejnovich, a co-Principal Investigator of the ABRAT TM -H study and Clinical Nurse
Specialist at Nebraska Methodist Hospital states, “The nursing staff on the study units were
highly supportive of the study interventions and expressed strong appreciation for the
organization’s participation in proactive efforts to prevent and reduce workplace violence.”
Workplace violence (WPV) in EDs and hospitals
WPV against healthcare workers is a serious preventable problem. The U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics reported that hospitals are associated with a sixfold higher rate of WPV-related
injuries compared to all industries, and healthcare workers suffer threefold higher absences
from work due to WPV-related injuries. These US statistics have been worsening steadily since
their reporting began in 2011. Among healthcare workers in the United States, more than two
nurses experience assaults every hour, and patients are the most common perpetrators. WPV
can have negative impacts on patients, nurses and hospitals, such as poor patient care,
anxiety, job dissatisfaction, burnout, high turnover, low productivity and financial loss for the
organizations. To address the worsening WPV problem, The Joint Commission recently issued
new and updated standards for WPV prevention programs required for hospital accreditations.
The new standards include the implementation of WPV prevention programs, annual program
evaluations, as well as standardized data collection and reporting of WPV. The VEST TM is a
validated tool for collecting various violent-event types and their severities in a standardized
fashion, consistent with current regulatory requirements.
ABRAT TM -H, ABRAT TM -ED and VEST TM licensing information
Copyright licenses are available.
Contact:
Ken Martin,
Son Chae Kim, PhD, LLC.
VP of Sales and Marketing,
kenmartin@sckim.com
760-330-1630
