National trends in pharmacist and pharmacy technician suicide: Incidence and associated features

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are essential healthcare professionals with limited data on their risk for suicide.

Using the National Violent Death Reporting System, pharmacist, pharmacy technician, and general population suicides (for individuals 25 years of age or older) were identified. Suicide incidence was estimated from 2011 to 2022 due to data limitations, while suicide characteristics (preceding circumstances, method, and toxicology) were analyzed in adjusted Firth logistic regression models from 2005 to 2022.

A total of 369 pharmacist (87 [24%] female), 243 pharmacy technician (149 [61%] female), and 245,114 general population (52,890 [22%] female) suicides were found for the period from 2011 to 2022. When data were standardized by sex, pharmacists had a higher risk of suicide (incidence rate ratio [IRR], 1.21; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.09-1.34) while pharmacy technicians had a lower risk (IRR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.74-0.99) than individuals in the general population during the 2011-2022 study period. Male pharmacists had a higher risk of suicide than other males (IRR, 1.25; 95% CI, 1.11-1.41) while female technicians had a higher risk than other females (IRR, 1.22; 95% CI, 1.04-1.44) during the 2011-2022 study period. In terms of the features associated with suicide, compared to the general population, pharmacists had higher odds of preceding job problems, while pharmacy technicians had higher odds of mental health problems. Pharmacists also had higher odds of using poisoning as a method.

Our findings suggest that pharmacists and female pharmacy technicians are at higher risk of suicide than their counterparts from the general population, possibly indicating that increased awareness and prevention are warranted.