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A Systematic Review on Gender-Specific Suicide Mortality in Medical Doctors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Sari Lindeman ,
Esa Läärä ,
Helinä Hakko  and
Jouko Lönnqvist
Sari Lindeman*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry
Esa Läärä
Affiliation:
Department of Public Health Science and General Practice
Helinä Hakko
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of Oulu
Jouko Lönnqvist
Affiliation:
National Public Health Institute, Department of Mental Health, Helsinki, Finland
*
Sari Lindeman, University of Oulu, Department of Psychiatry, Kajaanintie 43, 90220 Oulu, Finland
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Abstract

Background

So far no comprehensive systematic review has been published about epidemiologic studies on suicides among medical practitioners. The aim here is to describe the variation of published estimates of relative risk of doctors to die from suicide.

Method

A systematic review of published original articles on population-based studies, registered mainly in MEDLINE and fulfilling specific methodological requirements. Incidence rates and standardised mortality ratios were calculated for male and female doctors in relation to the reference groups.

Results

The estimated relative risk varied from 1.1 to 3.4 in male doctors, and from 2.5 to 5.7 in female doctors, respectively as compared with the general population, and from 1.5 to 3.8 in males and from 3.7 to 4.5 in females, respectively, as compared with other professionals. The crude suicide mortality rate was about the same in male and female doctors.

Conclusion

In all studies the suicide rates among doctors were higher than those in the general population and among other academic occupational groups.

Type
Review Article
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 168 , Issue 3 , March 1996 , pp. 274 - 279
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

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