[Psychiatric and somatic morbidity among Hungarian psychiatrists]

A growing body of evidence in the international literature suggests that the prevalence of psychiatric morbidity including suicide is high among psychiatrists. Based on these data, we hypothesised that the prevalence of psychiatric and somatic morbidity is higher among psychiatrists in Hungary compared to the other graduate population. Aims. To assess the psychiatric and somatic health status of psychiatrists in Hungary.

Data for this epidemiological study were collected from 160 female and 60 male psychiatrists using questionnaires. 1,754 white collar female and male workers from a representative survey (Hungarostudy 2002) and 407 representative physicians served as controls.

We found that the prevalence of chronic somatic morbidity among both female and male physicians was significantly higher than that in the respective control groups. The prevalence of malignancies, diabetes, renal impairment, depression, hypertension, myocardial infarction and cardiovascular diseases, other infectious diseases, allergies and gastrointestinal ulcers was higher among male psychiatrists compared to controls. Female psychiatrists exhibited higher prevalence of malignant diseases, liver disease, depression, hypertension, myocardial infarction, other infectious diseases, bronchial asthma, other pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, allergies, gastrointestinal diseases including ulcer, ophthalmologic and gynecological disorders compared to the other graduate and female physician population. A significantly higher prevalence of maternal reproductive morbidity including miscarriage, therapeutic termination of pregnancy, high-risk pregnancy among female psychiatrists was found compared to women in the control groups.

The prevalence of psychiatric and somatic morbidity is higher among physicians compared with that in the normative population. Furthermore, female physicians consumed more anxiolytics, reported exhaustion more frequently, and exhibited poorer health maintenance behaviours than male colleagues. Increased mortality among Hungarian physicians may be attributed to high prevalence of somatic and psychiatric morbidity and inattentive health behaviours.