A recent analysis found that suicide rates of physicians are decreasing, but risk remains higher for female physicians.
Researchers looked at 39 studies published between 1960 and March 2024 from 20 countries that included mortality rates for physician deaths by suicide. The findings were published Aug. 21 in The BMJ.
Across the studies, male physicians had an overall suicide rate of 1.05 compared to the general population. The rate for female physicians was 1.76.
The more recent studies reported lower suicide rates, suggesting it has declined over time for both genders, the researchers said.
The mean effective estimate in male physicians in older studies was 1.17, compared to 0.78 in the recent studies.
Women physicians saw suicide rates 2.21 times higher than the general population in older studies, with recent studies showing 1.24 times higher rates than the general population, according to the study.