Death, Dying, Violence and Aggression as Shown on Medical Television Series.

February 10, 2026 updated by: King's College Hospital NHS Trust

End of Life, Violence and Aggression on TV.

Medical TV dramas have become very popular in recent years. These shows are mainly created for entertainment and often do not reflect what really happens in hospitals. However, television plays an important role in sharing information, shaping how people think, and teaching the public about medicine.

Death and dying in hospitals, especially in Intensive Care Units (ICUs), are highly emotional experiences. In real life, these situations often turn out very differently from what patients and families expect. Because of this, it is important to understand how medical TV shows portray major hospital events such as end-of-life care, death, and the delivery of bad news. When what is shown on TV does not match the reality of ICU care, it can lead to unrealistic expectations, false hope, and greater distress for patients and their families at the end of life.

At the same time, violence and aggression towards healthcare providers have increased in recent years. This can include verbal abuse as well as physical attacks. Looking at how healthcare workers are treated in medical TV shows may help us understand whether these programmes influence what behaviour is seen as acceptable. Since violence against healthcare staff has become especially concerning since the COVID-19 pandemic, the possible role of media should not be ignored, even though many factors are involved.

This study aims to describe how death and dying are shown in popular medical TV series and to explore how violence or aggression towards healthcare providers is portrayed in these settings.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

500

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Fictional characters in the studied TV series

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Any are clearly visible and/or audible, intentional acts of violence occurring as self-contained scenes within an episode, set in a hospital environment, and taking place between two or more individuals in a medical or professional treatment setting.
  • All patients dying within the hospital setting. The death scene must be explicitly shown or named (e.g., flatline, burial, covering of the body). The death must be visibly depicted on screen (the viewer must see the death happen).

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Violence: Violence outside the hospital. Self-harming behaviour or acts of violence that originate from a purely private context and do not arise within a professional medical setting.
  • Death: Death outside the hospital. Stories or mentions of death without visual depiction do not count. Implied or off-screen deaths without explicit confirmation or depiction are excluded. Implied or off-screen deaths without explicit confirmation or depiction are excluded.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Violence and aggression
People included are clearly visible and/or audible, intentional acts of violence occurring as self-contained scenes within an episode, set in a hospital environment, and taking place between two or more individuals in a medical or professional treatment setting.
End of life
All patients dying within the hospital setting. The death scene must be explicitly shown or named (e.g., flatline, burial, covering of the body). The death must be visibly depicted on screen (the viewer must see the death happen).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number and type of violent episodes depicted in medical tv series in the OR, the ICU and in the ER.
Time Frame: during hospital admission
Violence/ aggression behaviours including: intentional physical, verbal, psychological/ emotional and/ or sexual
during hospital admission
Number and type of death/ dying as depicted in medical tv series in the OR, the ICU and in the ER.
Time Frame: during hospital admission
End of life scenes depicting the death and dying process
during hospital admission

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Type of environment that the behaviour is taking place
Time Frame: During the hospital admission of observed patient or family member/ friend
Describe the environment in which violent behaviour and/or death/ dying is taking place
During the hospital admission of observed patient or family member/ friend
Depicted emotions during death/dying
Time Frame: During the hospital admission of observed patient or family member/ friend
Describe the emotions that are demonstrated by family members/ friends dying death/ dying
During the hospital admission of observed patient or family member/ friend

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

King's College Hospital NHS Trust

Collaborators

University of Witten/Herdecke

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

May 10, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

May 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 2, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

February 18, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 18, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 10, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • KCC02022026EOL

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

All IPD that underlie results in a publication

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Beginning with publication of results and ending 6 months after publication

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

All researchers that request information on the study protocol and the data collection sheet. An explanation need for the requested will be needed. The request will be assessed by two researchers participating in the original analysis/ publication.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Violent Aggressive Behavior

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Togo

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe