ArticlePloS one2023
Suicidal thoughts and behaviour among healthcare workers in England during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study.
Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Employment and working conditions and risk of suicidal behaviors: a systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies.Scandinavian journal of work, environment & health · 2026Pooled it
- Factors associated with suicidal ideation in healthcare personnel: a systematic review.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Pooled it
- Mental health outcomes among U.S. healthcare workers before, during, and after the 2019 global respiratory pandemic: A population-based study.Journal of affective disorders · 2026Article
- Moral injury in healthcare workers: causes & interventions.British medical bulletin · 2026Review
- Workforce mental health as health security infrastructure: protecting emergency response capacity during public health emergencies.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Complicity in Moral Injury: A Study of Moral Phenomena in Healthcare Work Settings.Journal of healthcare leadership · 2026Article
- Article
- Effectiveness of Blog Writing Intervention for Promoting Subjective Well-Being, Resilience, and Post-Traumatic Growth of Palliative Care Nurses.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Futureproofing the healthcare workforce in Europe: understanding and addressing psychological distress and occupational outcomes.The Lancet regional health. Europe · 2025Review
- Moral Injury, Mental Disorders, and Suicidal Behavior Among Health Professionals During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Network Analysis.Journal of religion and health · 2025Article
- Suicide risk factors among Lithuanian medical doctors and residents.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Potential strategies for supporting mental health and mitigating the risk of burnout among healthcare professionals: insights from the COVID-19 pandemic.EClinicalMedicine · 2024Review
- Covid-19 pandemic? Mental health implications among nurses and Proposed interventions.AIMS public health · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, concern has been raised about suicide risk among healthcare workers (HCWs). We investigated the incidence risk and prevalence of suicidal thoughts and behaviour (STB), and their relationship with occupational risk factors, among National Health Service HCWs in England between April 2020 and August 2021.
methodsIn this longitudinal study, we analysed online survey data completed by 22,501 HCWs from 17 NHS Trusts at baseline (Time 1) and six months (Time 2). The primary outcome measures were suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, and non-suicidal self-injury. We used logistic regression to investigate the relationship between these outcomes and demographic characteristics and occupational factors. Results were stratified by occupational role (clinical/non-clinical).
resultsTime 1 and Time 2 surveys were completed by 12,514 and 7,160 HCWs, respectively. At baseline, 10.8% (95% CI = 10.1%, 11.6%) of participants reported having experienced suicidal thoughts in the previous two months, whilst 2.1% (95% CI = 1.8%, 2.5%) of participants reported having attempted suicide over the same period. Among HCWs who had not experienced suicidal thoughts at baseline (and who completed the Time 2 survey), 11.3% (95%CI = 10.4%, 12.3%) reported such thoughts six months later. Six months after baseline, 3.9% (95% CI = 3.4%, 4.4%) of HCWs reported attempting suicide for the first time. Exposure to potentially morally injurious events, lack of confidence about raising safety concerns and these concerns being addressed, feeling unsupported by managers, and providing a reduced standard of care were all associated with increased suicidal ideation among HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. At six months, among clinicians, a lack of confidence about safety concerns being addressed, independently predicted suicidal ideation.
conclusionSuicidal thoughts and behaviour among healthcare workers could be reduced by improving managerial support and enhancing the ability of staff to raise safety concerns.
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