Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23123101›Full record

ArticleGeneral hospital psychiatry

Details on suicide among US physicians: data from the National Violent Death Reporting System.

Katherine J Gold, Ananda Sen, Thomas L Schwenk

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in General hospital psychiatry. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
91citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
17.9field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

91 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 276 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  5. Web-Based Tools and Mobile Applications To Mitigate Burnout, Depression, and Suicidality Among Healthcare Students and Professionals: a Systematic Review.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2018
    Pooled it
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  11. Implementing an Interactive Self-screening Psychological Distress Tool for Residents and Fellows.Academic psychiatry : the journal of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training and the Association for Academic Psychiatry · 2025
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  16. Analyzing Social Factors to Enhance Suicide Prevention Across Population Groups.Proceedings. IEEE International Conference on Healthcare Informatics · 2024
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31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Katherine J GoldDepartment of Family Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1213, USA. ktgold@umich.edu
Ananda Sen
Thomas L Schwenk
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor · USUniversity of Nevada, Reno · US

Funding

Maternal Mental and Physical Health Outcomes after Stillbirth and Infant DeathK23MH085882 · NIMH · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · PI GOLD, KATHERINE J · 2010 to 2013
$694k
NIMH NIH HHS K23 MH085882
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivePhysician suicide is an important public health problem as the rate of suicide is higher among physicians than the general population. Unfortunately, few studies have evaluated information about mental health comorbidities and psychosocial stressors which may contribute to physician suicide. We sought to evaluate these factors among physicians versus non-physician suicide victims.

methodsWe used data from the United States National Violent Death Reporting System to evaluate demographics, mental health variables, recent stressors and suicide methods among physician versus non-physician suicide victims in 17 states.

resultsThe data set included 31,636 suicide victims of whom 203 were identified as physicians. Multivariable logistic regression found that having a known mental health disorder or a job problem which contributed to the suicide significantly predicted being a physician. Physicians were significantly more likely than non-physicians to have antipsychotics, benzodiazepines and barbiturates present on toxicology testing but not antidepressants.

conclusionsMental illness is an important comorbidity for physicians who complete a suicide but postmortem toxicology data shows low rates of medication treatment. Inadequate treatment and increased problems related to job stress may be potentially modifiable risk factors to reduce suicidal death among physicians.

Indexed as

AdultAgedAntipsychotic AgentsAsphyxiaBarbituratesBenzodiazepinesCause of DeathDepressionDrug OverdoseFemaleFirearmsHumansLogistic ModelsMaleMental DisordersMiddle AgedAntipsychotic AgentsBarbituratesBenzodiazepines

Identifiers

PMID23123101
PMCPMC3549025
OpenAlexW2084793724

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.