Prevalence of suicide-related behaviors among physicians: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Suicide is a major cause of premature death among physicians, but the prevalence of suicide-related behaviors (including suicidal ideation, SI and suicide attempt, SA) is inconsistent across studies. This meta-analysis aimed to estimate the prevalence of suicide-related behaviors among physicians and its associated factors.

PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, and Cochrane library databases were systematically searched from commencement date to August 14, 2018. Eligible studies on the prevalence of suicide-related behaviors among physicians were included.

Thirty-five eligible studies with 70,368 physicians were included. The lifetime prevalence of SI was 17.4% (95% CI: 13.8%-21.8%), while the 1-year prevalence was 8.6% (95% CI: 7.1%-10.3%), 6-month prevalence was 11.9% (95% CI: 2.7%-39.2%), and 1-month prevalence was 8.6% (95% CI: 5.6%-13.0%). The lifetime prevalence of SA was 1.8% (95% CI: 0.9%-3.7%), while the 1-year prevalence was 0.3% (95% CI: 0.1%-0.8%). Subgroup analyses revealed that geographic region was significantly associated with lifetime and 1-year prevalence of SI, while sample size was significantly associated with 1-month prevalence of SI.

This meta-analysis found a relatively high prevalence of suicide-related behaviors, particularly lifetime SI, among physicians. Appropriate preventive and treatment measures should be implemented to reduce the risk of suicide-related behaviors in this population.