Results and implications of the AMA-APA Physician Mortality Project. Stage II. Council on Scientific Affairs
In response to several House of Delegates resolutions and Council on
Scientific Affairs recommendations, the American Medical Association and
the American Psychiatric Association have completed a joint study on
physician suicide. Comprehensive interviews were conducted with surviving
relatives and friends of 142 physicians who died by suicide and 101
physicians who died of causes other than suicide. The latter group, matched
to the suicide group according to sex and age, served as a control sample.
Bivariate relationships were found between several variables and risk for
suicide, and all were examined in a multivariate framework. A preliminary
profile of the physicians who took their own lives showed that they more
often made prior suicide attempts, verbalized suicidal intentions,
self-prescribed psychoactive drugs, and suffered financial losses.
