Suicide among social workers in Rhode Island.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Dubrow R
• Description:
  Cause specific mortality patterns by occupation and industry were examined among Rhode Island residents who died during the years 1968 to 1978 using the age standardized proportionate mortality ratio (PMR) method with an emphasis on social workers. A computer file of death certificate records was scanned; information included decedent's sex, race, age at death, underlying cause of death, occupation, and industry. Age standardized PMRs were calculated by sex and race for an array of specific causes of death associated with specific occupations and industries. There were 50,493 white male decedents and 45,207 white female decedents; of these, 41 men and 66 women were social workers. Five of the male deaths (PMR 470) and four of the female deaths (PMR 510) among social workers were attributed to suicide, primarily by drugs and/or alcohol. Underreporting of suicides in the general population did not appear to significantly influence the finding of increased risk of suicide in social workers. The author concludes that social workers may represent a high risk group for suicide; high stress associated with social work and a tendency for individuals with dysfunctional patterns of response to stress to go into social work may underlie the problem. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Epidemiology Mental Health Mortality Occupational Health Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  JOCMA7 Mental-stress Mortality-rates Mortality-surveys NIOSH-Author Psychological-factors Risk-factors
• ISSN:
  0096-1736
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  OSHA Region 1 ; Rhode Island
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  211-213
• Volume:
  30
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:00178707
• Citation:
  J Occup Med 1988 Mar; 30(3):211-213
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  1988
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a9d3bdc501a2d42cbac67f737b4799655a4db31e50ab2907ce5f59ed7fa56345a4155e63080ce5291e05b2eb78c24ca310a17919433fbf1a9755937982eb10b4
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/185492/cdc_185492_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 833.15 KB ]