The Suicide Mortality of Working Physicians and Dentists

Details

• Personal Author:
  Burnett CA ; Petersen, Martin R.
• Description:
  BACKGROUND: Some studies have shown that physicians and dentists have elevated risks of suicide, while other studies have not. AIMS: Using all deaths and corresponding census data in 26 US states, we examine the suicide risk for working physicians and dentists. METHODS: Death and census data for working people were obtained from 1984 through 1992. Directly age-standardized suicide rate ratios (SRRs) were calculated for white male and white female physicians and white male dentists. RESULTS: For white female physicians, the suicide rate was elevated compared to the working US population (SRR = 2.39, 95% CI = 1.52-3.77). For white male physicians and dentists, the overall suicide rates were reduced (SRR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.53-1.20 and 0.68, 95% CI = 0.52-0.89, respectively). For older white male physicians and dentists, however, observed suicide rates were elevated. CONCLUSIONS: White female physicians have an elevated suicide rate. Only older white male physicians and dentists have elevated suicide rates, which partially explains the varied conclusions in the literature. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Dental Offices Epidemiology Health Personnel Mortality Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Dentistry Dentists Health-care-personnel Mortality-data Mortality-rates National Occupational Mortality Surveillance NOMS Physicians Statistical-analysis
• ISSN:
  0962-7480
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  25-29
• Volume:
  58
• Issue:
  1
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20033168
• Citation:
  Occup Med 2008 Jan; 58(1):25-29
• Contact Point Address:
  Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2008
• NORA Priority Area:
  Manufacturing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Occupational Medicine
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:db470fdc67362c676d1bb938a0fac14a92d9d5cc25c26c971e51756f04c98fe3a05f6bd622ec8f9a801ca04ae3f4c9ccf8ff0ad034d6524fa737e05b8e2171bd
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/188847/cdc_188847_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 95.95 KB ]