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Suicidality among Finnish anaesthesiologists
Author(s) -
LINDFORS P. M.,
MERETOJA O. A.,
LUUKKONEN R. A.,
ELOVAINIO M. J.,
LEINO T. J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
acta anaesthesiologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.738
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1399-6576
pISSN - 0001-5172
DOI - 10.1111/j.1399-6576.2009.02014.x
Subject(s) - medicine , suicidal ideation , respondent , odds ratio , suicide prevention , poison control , psychiatry , occupational safety and health , population , interpersonal communication , injury prevention , confidence interval , human factors and ergonomics , medical emergency , environmental health , social psychology , psychology , pathology , political science , law
Background: Suicide rates among physicians have constantly been reported to be higher than in the general population and anaesthesiologists appear to lead the suicide statistics among physicians. Methods: A cross‐sectional questionnaire study was sent to all working Finnish anaesthesiologists ( n =550) investigating their suicidality (ideation and/or planning and/or attempt). The response rate was 60%. Results: One in four had at some time seriously been thinking about suicide. Respondents with poor health (crude odds ratios 11.2 and 95% confidence interval 3.8–33.0), low social support (10.5, 4.0–27.9), and family problems (6.5, 3.4–12.5) had the highest risk of suicidality. The highest risks at work were conflicts with co‐workers (4.1, 2.3–7.1) and superiors (2.1, 1.2–3.6), on‐call‐related stress symptoms (3.9, 1.9–8.3) and low organizational justice (1.9, 1.1–3.2). If a respondent had several risk factors, the risk of suicidality doubled with each cumulating factor. Conclusions: The reported level of suicidal ideation among Finnish anaesthesiologists is worth concern. It should be of utmost importance to screen the risk factors and recognize suicidal physicians in order to help them. Interpersonal relationships, decision‐making procedures, and on‐call‐burden should be focused on when aiming to prevent suicidality among physicians.