Around 50 percent of home care workers reported in a recent government survey that they had experienced some form of harassment from those being cared for, it was learned Sunday.

In the first extensive survey conducted by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry on people working in the nursing care industry, 81 percent of those reporting harassment said they had been psychologically abused at least once in 2018. The survey, part of which was obtained by Kyodo, was based on responses from 10,112 people working for 2,155 nursing service providers, of whom 2,532 were involved in home care. Those who were psychologically harassed typically reported hostile behavior and verbal abuse.

Around 42 percent of those reporting harassment had been physically abused, with reported cases including objects being thrown at care providers, while 37 percent said they had been sexually harassed, according to the survey. Of those providing home care, 17 percent said they had been abused by relatives of those being cared for.