The Female Physician Suicide Risk: 53% Higher Than Women in the General Population

In a recent study, investigators found that female physicians have a 53% higher risk of suicide than women in the general population. Hirsh Makhija, MS, who was a volunteer in the study “National Incidents of Physician Suicide and Associated Features,” shares more details.

As physician suicide is a rare event and there is a relative lack of data, investigators sought to better understand this phenomenon. They found that female physicians had a higher suicide risk in 2017 and 2019. Then for the study period of 2017 to 2021, they found female physicians were also at a high risk in the 3-year and the 5-year period.

As to reasoning behind the higher rate of female physician suicide, investigators found that female physicians have higher rates of depression and burnout than their male colleagues. Next, they found that female nurses had a higher suicide risk than other women. Therefore, factors of being a female in the workforce, specifically health care, may contribute, including: under-recognition for achievements, inequitable pay, inequitable promotions, work-life imbalance possibly due to greater domestic responsibility, risk of sexual harassment and assault, and unfair stereotypes.

Anonymous screenings and resources, as well as in-house psychiatrists and psychologists, could help.

Mr Makhija is a postgraduate researcher at the UC San Diego School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry.