Suicide by occupation: systematic review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Occupational Health
• Epidemiology
• Public Health

Background:

• Previous studies indicated elevated suicide risks in specific occupations (e.g., doctors, farmers).
• Limited research has synthesized these findings across diverse working-age populations.
• Occupation is a significant, yet under-researched, factor in suicide risk.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and meta-analyze existing research on occupation and suicide risk.
• To quantify the pooled risk of suicide across different occupational skill-level groups.
• To identify occupational groups with the highest suicide risk.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a systematic review of published literature.
• Employed random effects meta-analyses to calculate pooled suicide risk ratios (RR).
• Analyzed data across occupational skill-level strata.

Main Results:

• Included 34 studies in the meta-analysis.
• Elementary professions (laborers, cleaners) showed the highest elevated suicide risk (RR = 1.84).
• Machine operators/deck crew (RR = 1.78) and agricultural workers (RR = 1.64) also had increased risk, demonstrating a stepwise gradient by skill level.

Conclusions:

• This is the first comprehensive meta-analysis on occupation and suicide.
• A clear gradient exists, with lower-skilled occupations facing higher suicide risk.
• Further research is needed to understand the reasons behind these skill-level disparities, especially in lower-skilled groups.