Occupational Medicine Advance Access originally published online on October 27, 2007
Occupational Medicine 2008 58(1):25-29; doi:10.1093/occmed/kqm117
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Published by Oxford University Press
The suicide mortality of working physicians and dentists
Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA
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.
Keywords Dentists; mortality; physicians; suicide
Correspondence to: Martin R. Petersen, National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Mail Stop R15, 4676 Columbia Parkway, Cincinnati, OH 45226, USA. Tel: +1 513 841 4234; fax: +1 513 841 4486; e-mail: mrp1{at}cdc.gov