Female physicians are twice as likely to commit suicide as other women, a British study shows, while male doctors are less likely to kill themselves than other men.
The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (2001;55:296-300), was conducted at the Centre for Suicide Research at Oxford University. It found that the suicide rate among women doctors from England and Wales was 12.6 per 100 000 population for 4 periods between 1979 and 1995. During the same periods, the suicide rate in the general female population was 6.3 per 100 000.
Among male doctors the suicide rate was 14.3 per 100 000, well below the level of 21.0 per 100 000 found in the general male population.
The researchers said that the high rate among female physicians may be partly explained by women's tendency to commit suicide by poisoning and the fact that physicians have easy access to this means. But they say the “particular stresses” facing female physicians are a more “relevant explanation.”
Professor Keith Hawton, the principal investigator, says the main stressors are “working in an environment where male ‘standards’ apply and, possibly, multiple responsibilities: family, as well as work.” He added that the findings are in line with several studies (Br J Psychiatry 1996;168:274-9) from other countries.
The authors concluded that the increased risk facing female physicians should be carefully monitored, especially because more than half of medical students are now female.