Physician Suicide: A Scoping Literature Review to Highlight Opportunities for Prevention

Leung, Tiffany I.; Snyder, Rebecca A.; Pendharkar, Sima; Chen, Chwen-Yuen Angie

doi:10.2478/gp-2020-0014

Cited by 5 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 253 publications

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“…A previous scoping review of the literature about physician suicide identified articles that commented on or investigated suicidal behaviors of physician populations, including students, postgraduate trainees, and practicing physicians [ 7 ]. Briefly, in that literature review, a medical librarian assisted in refining the research question, developing the search strategy, and conducting a search of relevant electronic databases, including Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, and Scopus.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These databases were searched from inception through April 2018. Using the predefined literature review methodology, 347 articles were identified for analysis, with the earliest dating back to 1903 [ 7 ]. From these 347 articles, articles were further screened for this proof-of-concept study to focus on articles that made an assertion, or claim, about the annual rate of US physicians who die of suicide.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the field of physician suicide, disparate research, opinion, and position statements have been published in scholarly literature, with more than 60% of such literature published in the last 20 years alone [ 7 ]. Physician suicide has been reported in at least 37 countries, and many risk factors for suicidal behavior that affect the general population, such as inadequately diagnosed or treated mental health disorders or substance use disorders, also apply to physicians.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Physician suicide has been reported in at least 37 countries, and many risk factors for suicidal behavior that affect the general population, such as inadequately diagnosed or treated mental health disorders or substance use disorders, also apply to physicians. More controversially, various unique risk factors have been suggested, including specialized knowledge of human physiology, easier access to lethal means of self-harm, personality traits selected in the physician training pathway, specialty of practice, and legal or licensing issues unique to the medical field [ 7 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Representing Physician Suicide Claims as Nanopublications: Proof-of-Concept Study Creating Claim Networks

Leung¹,

Kuhn²,

Dumontier³

2022

JMIRx Med

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Background In the poorly studied field of physician suicide, various factors can contribute to misinformation or information distortion, which in turn can influence evidence-based policies and prevention of suicide in this unique population. Objective The aim of this paper is to use nanopublications as a scientific publishing approach to establish a citation network of claims in peer-reviewed publications about the rate of suicide among US physicians. Methods A list of articles from a previously published scoping literature review on physician suicide was used to identify those articles that commented on or investigated suicidal behaviors of physician populations, including students, postgraduate trainees, and practicing physicians. The included articles were from peer-reviewed publications and asserted a claim about the annual rate of physician suicide. Manual data extraction was performed to collect article (or resource) type, title, authors, digital object identifier or URI, publication year, claim (about annual physician suicide rate), data of last access of the article (eg, for a webpage), and citations supporting the claim. Additional articles, websites, or other links were only added to the set of claims if they were cited by a peer-reviewed article already included in the data set. A nanopublication was created for each article or resource using Nanobench with an investigator-developed literature-based claim nanopublication template. Results A set of 49 claims concerning the rate of US physician suicide was represented as nanopublications. Analysis of the claim network revealed that (1) the network is not fully connected, (2) no single primary source of the claim could be identified, and (3) all end-point citations had a claim with no further citation, had no apparent claim, or could not be accessed to verify the claim. The nanopublication strategy also enabled the capture of variant claims published on a website. Conclusions Nanopublications remain to be adopted in broader scientific publishing in medicine, especially in publishing about physician mental health and suicide. This proof-of-concept study highlights an opportunity for more coordinated research efforts in the subject of physician suicide. Our work integrates these various claims and enables the verification of nonauthoritative assertions, thereby better equipping researchers to advance evidence-based knowledge and to make informed statements in the advocacy of physician suicide prevention. Representing physician suicide rate claims as nanopublications can be extended and improved in future work.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Representing Physician Suicide Claims as Nanopublications: Proof-of-Concept Study Creating Claim Networks

Leung¹,

Kuhn²,

Dumontier³

2022

JMIRx Med

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show abstract

“…Rates of suicide due to overdose are also likely to be higher among physicians, as compared with general population. Even among physicians, rates of suicide vary depending on gender, region religion, and branch/specialty (Hikiji & Fukunaga, 2014; Leung et al, 2020; Malone et al, 2021). Suicide prevention efforts targeted at physicians should recognize, understand, and take care of such differences, which may translate into development of effective targeted interventions that include personalized interventions designed to address individual risk profile (Center et al, 2003).…”

Section: Recommendationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The silent epidemic: Death by suicide among physicians

Bhatia

Sharma

Pal

et al. 2022

Asia-Pacific Psychiatry

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Suicidal deaths among physicians have been on a steady rise in the past few decades, despite being a part of the healthcare system, training for early identification and easy access to treatment services. While there is no doubt that this warrants concern at individual, institutional, and community levels, physician suicide remains an under‐researched topic. We examine the correlates of suicidal deaths among physicians along with risks and protective factors conferred to physicians as a population and emphasize the need for preventive and risk‐reduction initiatives that are specifically tailored for physicians and the healthcare provider community.

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Physician Suicide Prevention and the Ethics and Role of a Healing Community: an American College of Physicians Policy Paper

DeCamp

Levine

Ethics³

2021

J GEN INTERN MED

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Suicide is a major global public health issue, and in recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the problem of physician suicide. This American College of Physicians policy paper examines, from the perspective of ethics, the issues that arise when individuals and institutions respond to physician suicides and when they engage in broader efforts aimed at physician suicide prevention. Emphasizing the medical profession as a unique moral community characterized by ethical and professional commitments of service to patients, each other, and society, this paper offers guidance regarding physician suicide and the role of a healing community. The response to an individual physician suicide should be characterized by respect and concern for those who are grieving, the creation of a supportive environment for suicide loss survivors, and careful communication about the event. Because suicide is a complex problem, actions aimed at preventing suicide must occur at the individual, interpersonal, community, and societal levels. The medical community has an obligation to foster a culture that supports education, screening, and access to mental health treatment, beginning at the earliest stages of medical training.

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Physician Suicide: A Scoping Literature Review to Highlight Opportunities for Prevention

Cited by 5 publications

References 253 publications

Representing Physician Suicide Claims as Nanopublications: Proof-of-Concept Study Creating Claim Networks

Representing Physician Suicide Claims as Nanopublications: Proof-of-Concept Study Creating Claim Networks

The silent epidemic: Death by suicide among physicians

Physician Suicide Prevention and the Ethics and Role of a Healing Community: an American College of Physicians Policy Paper

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