Suicide among physicians

Objectives: Several studies have reported elevated suicide rates for physicians. The first aim of this project thesis is to outline the variation of prevalence in physician suicide put forward by the available literature, taking into account potential gender differences. What causes or predicts suicide in this population is thus far not well known. The second aim of this thesis is to describe some of the risk factors, predictors and possible causes for suicide among physicians, as introduced by the current published studies. Method: Studies on prevalence and causes/risk factors were located in PubMed following a combined Boolean search. Different inclusion criteria were applied to the two groups of studies. A total of 39 studies met the inclusion criteria. Results: The suicide mortality ratios for male physicians ranged from 0.67 to 2.00, and for female physicians from 1.68 to 5.7. Mental distress (depression, burnout etc.), not seeking help, work conflicts, financial problems, health problems, substance abuse, previous history of compulsive behaviours, lack of personal support, and high scores of the personality traits of neuroticism and reality weakness were found to be associated with suicidal behaviour. Conclusions: Research suggests that female physicians have elevated suicide rates compared to the general population, while findings on the prevalence of male physician suicide were conflicting and could not lead to a definite conclusion. Several risk factors and predictors for suicide in the physician population were identified. Larger and newer studies are needed to better understand these trends and in order to create efficient intervention programs