Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine

Title abbreviation: Adv Clin Exp Med
JCR Impact Factor (IF) – 1.736
5-Year Impact Factor – 2.135
Index Copernicus  – 168.52
MEiN – 70 pts

ISSN 1899–5276 (print)
ISSN 2451-2680 (online)
Periodicity – monthly

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Advances in Clinical and Experimental Medicine

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doi: 10.17219/acem/159423

Publication type: original article

Language: English

License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)

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Yıldız M, Batun KD, Şahinoğlu H, et al. Suicide among doctors in Turkey: Differences across gender, medical specialty and the method of suicide [published online as ahead of print on March 7, 2023]. Adv Clin Exp Med. 2023. doi:10.17219/acem/159423

Suicide among doctors in Turkey: Differences across gender, medical specialty and the method of suicide

Mesut Yıldız1,A,B,C,D,E,F, Kerim Deniz Batun2,A,B,C,D,F, Hakan Şahinoğlu2,A,B,C,D,F, Muhammed Selim Eryılmaz2,A,B,C,D,F, Bilge Özel2,A,B,C,D,F, Beyzanur Ataoğlu3,A,B,C,D,F, Seyhan Ergin Hıdıroğlu3,A,B,C,D,E,F

1 Department of Psychiatry, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

2 Intern at the Faculty of Medicine, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

3 Department of Public Health, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Background. Doctors have higher rates of mental illness and suicide than the general population worldwide. Suicides of doctors are known to be underreported in developing countries. To the best of our knowledge, there are no studies investigating suicides among medical students and doctors in Turkey.
Objectives. To investigate the characteristics of suicides in medical school students and doctors in Turkey.
Material and Methods. In this retrospective study, newspaper websites and Google search engine were searched for information on medical school student and doctor suicides in Turkey between 2011 and 2021. Cases of suicide attempt, parasuicide or deliberate self-harm were not included in the study.
Results. Sixty-one suicides were reported between 2011–2021. There was a male predominance (45 (73.8%)), and more than half of the suicides (32 (52.5%)) occurred among specialist doctors. Self-poisoning, jumping from heights and firearms were the most common methods of suicide (18 (29.5%), 17 (27.9%) and 15 (24.6%), respectively). Cardiovascular surgery, family medicine, gynecology, and obstetrics specialties had the highest numbers of suicide deaths. Depression/mental illness was the most common speculated etiology. These results show that suicides among medical students and doctors in Turkey have characteristics that differ from both suicided among the general population in Turkey and doctor suicides in other countries.
Conclusion. In this study, we identified the suicidal characteristics of medical students and doctors in Turkey for the first time. The results help us to better understand this understudied topic and provide an avenue for future studies. The data also indicate that it is important to monitor the individual and systemic difficulties experienced by doctors, starting from the medical education stage, and to provide individual and environmental support to help decrease the risk of suicide.

Key words

suicide, medical student, doctor

Graphical abstract


Graphical abstracts

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