When Doctors Struggle: Current Stressors and Evaluation Recommendations for Physicians Contemplating Suicide

Brooks, Elizabeth; Gendel, Michael H.; Early, Sarah R; Gundersen, Doris

doi:10.1080/13811118.2017.1372827

Cited by 31 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 23 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The finding that 8% of the individuals with "absence of psychopathology" presented suicide risk is in line with the literature stating that not all who present suicide risk must have a psychiatric illness, but rather could also be associated with factors such as job problems or a crisis in a work situation and the inability to cope with them (Brooks, Gendel, Early, & Gundersen, 2018;Gold et al, 2013;Mingote Adan et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Evaluation of mental health and occupational stress in Mexican medical residents

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Introduction. Since mental health disorders are an emerging problem in medical residents, its detection and attention must be a priority. Objetive. To compare the frequency of psychopathology in residents according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Method. We conducted a cross-sectional study evaluating the presence of psychopathology, as well as sociodemographic and clinical characteristics in 644 residents through online questionnaires. Results. Among participants, 55.7% reported a psychiatric disorder at some point and 29.2% a current one; only 41.5% were under treatment. Additionally, 8.1% had attempted suicide, of which 32.4% attempted it during residency. We found that 6.5% of women and 3.3% of men presented “risk of psychopathology,” with a higher percentage of men presenting “severe psychopathology.” Individuals with “risk of psychopathology” presented significantly higher scores on all of the questionnaires, compared to those with “absence of psychopathology.” Discussion and conclusion. Residents with occupational stress also presented higher risks of psychopathology, suicide, and substance use. Being under psychiatric treatment significantly improved the scores on the different scales. Because residency is a period that may increase the probability of suffering psychopathology, interventions should be aimed at reducing occupational stress and bringing specialized care.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Evaluation of mental health and occupational stress in Mexican medical residents

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In those 61 articles, 55 articles were on physicians [1,5,7,8,15,16,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49,50,51,52,53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64,65,66,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,82,83,84,85], four on dental surgeons [55,…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide Among Physicians and Health-Care Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundMedical-related professions are at high suicide risk. However, data are contradictory and comparisons were not made between gender, occupation and specialties, epochs of times. Thus, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis on suicide risk among healthcare workers. MethodThe PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct and Embase databases were searched without language restriction on April 2019, with the following keywords: suicide* AND (« health care worker* » OR physician* OR nurse*). When possible, we stratified results by gender, countries, time, and specialties. Estimates were pooled using random-effect metaanalysis. Differences by study-level characteristics were estimated using stratified metaanalysis and meta-regression. Suicides, suicidal attempts, and suicidal ideation were retrieved from national or local specific registers or case records. In addition, suicide attempts and suicidal ideation were also retrieved from questionnaires (paper or internet). ResultsThe overall SMR for suicide in physicians was 1.44 (95CI 1.16, 1.72) with an important heterogeneity (I 2 = 93.9%, p<0.001). Female were at higher risk (SMR = 1.9; 95CI 1.49, 2.58; and ES = 0.67; 95CI 0.19, 1.14; p<0.001 compared to male). US physicians were at higher risk (ES = 1.34; 95CI 1.28, 1.55; p <0.001 vs Rest of the world). Suicide decreased over time, especially in Europe (ES = -0.18; 95CI -0.37, -0.01; p = 0.044). Some specialties might be at higher risk such as anesthesiologists, psychiatrists, general practitioners and general surgeons. There were 1.0% (95CI 1.0, 2.0; p<0.001) of suicide attempts and 17% (95CI 12, 21; p<0.001) of suicidal ideation in physicians. Insufficient data precluded meta-analysis on other health-care workers. ConclusionPhysicians are an at-risk profession of suicide, with women particularly at risk. The rate of suicide in physicians decreased over time, especially in Europe. The high prevalence of physicians who committed suicide attempt as well as those with suicidal ideation should benefits for preventive strategies at the workplace. Finally, the lack of data on other health-care workers suggest to implement studies investigating those occupations.

show abstract

“…67 Moreover, women physicians are more than two times more likely to report thoughts of suicide than men physicians. 68 In medical students, one study found that symptoms of burnout seemed to be associated with future suicidal ideation, while suicidal ideation decreased upon recovery from burnout. 56 Burnout in women physicians In 2017, the percentage of women physicians in active practice was reported at 35.2%, 16 and the percentage of women among medical school matriculants passed the 50% mark for the first time.…”

Section: Physicians From Underrepresented Groups and Risk For Leavingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physician Workforce Disparities and Patient Care: A Narrative Review

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background: Ensuring the strength of the physician workforce is essential to optimizing patient care. Challenges that undermine the profession include inequities in advancement, high levels of burnout, reduced career duration, and elevated risk for mental health problems, including suicide. This narrative review explores whether physicians within four subpopulations represented in the workforce at levels lower than predicted from their numbers in the general population-women, racial and ethnic minorities in medicine, sexual and gender minorities, and people with disabilities-are at elevated risk for these problems, and if present, how these problems might be addressed to support patient care. In essence, the underlying question this narrative review explores is as follows: Do physician workforce disparities affect patient care? While numerous articles and high-profile reports have examined the relationship between workforce diversity and patient care, to our knowledge, this is the first review to examine the important relationship between diversity-related workforce disparities and patient care. Methods: Five databases (PubMed, the Cochrane Library of Systematic Reviews, EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, and EBSCO Discovery Service) were searched by a librarian. Additional resources were included by authors, as deemed relevant to the investigation. Results: The initial database searches identified 440 potentially relevant articles. Articles were categorized according to subtopics, including (1) underrepresented physicians and support for vulnerable patient populations; (2) factors that could exacerbate the projected physician deficit; (3) methods of addressing disparities among underrepresented physicians to support patient care; or (4) excluded (n = 155). The authors identified another 220 potentially relevant articles. Of 505 potentially relevant articles, 199 (39.4%) were included in this review. Conclusions: This report demonstrates an important gap in the literature regarding the impact of physician workforce disparities and their effect on patient care. This is a critical public health issue and should be urgently addressed in future research and considered in clinical practice and policy decision-making.

show abstract

When Doctors Struggle: Current Stressors and Evaluation Recommendations for Physicians Contemplating Suicide

Cited by 31 publications

References 23 publications

Evaluation of mental health and occupational stress in Mexican medical residents

Evaluation of mental health and occupational stress in Mexican medical residents

Suicide Among Physicians and Health-Care Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Physician Workforce Disparities and Patient Care: A Narrative Review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About