Suicide rate among Spanish physicians is higher than among the general population

Women in medicine have a higher risk of suicide than women in the general population and a higher risk than their male colleagues

Studies from different countries reveal that medicine is one of the professions with the highest risk of suicide . One of the main causes is job dissatisfaction, mainly due to working conditions, in addition to the stress and responsibility involved in the development of this profession.

In the study led by María Irigoyen-Otiñano "Suicide among physicians: Major risk for women physicians", based on data from 2005 to 2013, it was observed that Spanish physicians had a higher suicide rate than the general population. In addition to this, thanks to this study, it has become evident that within the profession, suicide is more frequent in women.

By age group, while among the general population the highest risk of suicide occurred between 30 and 39 years of age, among physicians it was between 40 and 59 years of age.

These data show the importance of prevention plans among medical professionals, in addition to intervention protocols when a person at risk is detected.

Reference to original paper: Irigoyen-Otiñano, M., Castro-Herranz, S., Romero-Agüit, S., Mingote-Adán, J. C., Garrote-Díaz, J. M., Matas-Aguilera, V., López-Ordoño, G. J., Puigdevall-Ruestes, M., Alberich, S., & González-Pinto, A. (2022). Suicide among physicians: Major risk for women physicians. Psychiatry research, 310, 114441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2022.114441