Suicide rates among physicians: a quantitative and gender assessment (meta-analysis)
- PMID: 15569903
- DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.161.12.2295
Suicide rates among physicians: a quantitative and gender assessment (meta-analysis)
Abstract
Objective: Physicians' suicide rates have repeatedly been reported to be higher than those of the general population or other academics, but uncertainty remains. In this study, physicians' suicide rate ratios were estimated with a meta-analysis and systematic quality assessment of recent studies.
Method: Studies of physicians' suicide rates were located in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, AARP Ageline, and the EBM Reviews: Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews with the terms "physicians," "doctors," "suicide," and "mortality." Studies were included if they were published in or after 1960 and gave estimates of age-standardized suicide rates of physicians and their reference population or reported extractable data on physicians' suicide; 25 studies met the criteria. Reviewers extracted data and scored each study for quality. The studies were tested for heterogeneity and publication bias and were stratified by publication year, follow-up, and study quality. Effect sizes were pooled by using fixed-effects (women) and random-effects (men) models.
Results: The aggregate suicide rate ratio for male physicians, compared to the general population, was 1.41, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.21-1.65. For female physicians the ratio was 2.27 (95% CI=1.90-2.73). Visual inspection of funnel plots from tests of publication bias revealed randomness for men but some indication of bias for women, with a relative, nonsignificant lack of studies in the lower right quadrant.
Conclusions: Studies on physicians' suicide collectively show modestly (men) to highly (women) elevated suicide rate ratios. Larger studies should help clarify whether female physicians' suicide rate is truly elevated or can be explained by publication bias.
Comment in
-
Physician suicide and drug abuse.Am J Psychiatry. 2005 Jul;162(7):1390; author reply 1390. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.162.7.1390. Am J Psychiatry. 2005. PMID: 15994734 No abstract available.
Similar articles
-
Suicide mortality among medical doctors in Finland: are females more prone to suicide than their male colleagues?Psychol Med. 1997 Sep;27(5):1219-22. doi: 10.1017/s0033291796004680. Psychol Med. 1997. PMID: 9300526
-
Male and Female Physician Suicidality: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.JAMA Psychiatry. 2020 Jun 1;77(6):587-597. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.0011. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020. PMID: 32129813 Free PMC article.
-
[Suicide in female and male physicians].Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2008 Oct 4;152(40):2177-81. Ned Tijdschr Geneeskd. 2008. PMID: 18953780 Dutch.
-
A systematic review of mortality in schizophrenia: is the differential mortality gap worsening over time?Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 Oct;64(10):1123-31. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.64.10.1123. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007. PMID: 17909124 Review.
-
Suicide among physicians: Major risk for women physicians.Psychiatry Res. 2022 Apr;310:114441. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114441. Epub 2022 Feb 13. Psychiatry Res. 2022. PMID: 35183987 Review.
Cited by
-
Suicide and depressive symptoms possible correlates among a sample of Egyptian physicians: observational cross-sectional study (online survey).BMC Psychiatry. 2024 May 30;24(1):408. doi: 10.1186/s12888-024-05825-w. BMC Psychiatry. 2024. PMID: 38816711 Free PMC article.
-
Silent Suffering: The Tragic Suicide Among Medical Residents.Arch Iran Med. 2024 May 1;27(5):287-288. doi: 10.34172/aim.2024.41. Arch Iran Med. 2024. PMID: 38690796 Free PMC article. No abstract available.
-
Advances in Child Psychiatry Education and Training.Adv Psychiatry Behav Health. 2023 Apr 26. doi: 10.1016/j.ypsc.2023.03.006. Online ahead of print. Adv Psychiatry Behav Health. 2023. PMID: 38620094 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Depression and associated risk factors among emergency medicine interns: Results from a national longitudinal cohort study.AEM Educ Train. 2024 Mar 25;8(2):e10970. doi: 10.1002/aet2.10970. eCollection 2024 Apr. AEM Educ Train. 2024. PMID: 38532738
-
Qualitative study investigating the professional and personal effects of patient suicide on general practitioners in Northern Ireland.BMJ Open. 2024 Feb 10;14(2):e077940. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-077940. BMJ Open. 2024. PMID: 38341208 Free PMC article.
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources
Medical
Miscellaneous