Stress-related suicide by dentists and other health care workers. Fact or folklore?
BACKGROUND
The media repeatedly portrays dentists and other health professionals as being at risk of committing suicide. While this message often is accepted without question, there are little reliable data available that verifies this alleged risk. The relationship between professional stress and suicide, if any, has not been substantiated or quantified.


METHODS
The author evaluated the contemporary literature on stress and suicide in health professionals in an effort to verify or refute the widely held belief that dentists and other health care professionals are at higher risk of committing stress-related suicide. The author also surveyed dental schools to determine what efforts were being made to provide students with stress-management skills.


RESULTS
The author found that there is little valid evidence that dentists are more prone to suicide than the general population, although some related data suggest that female dentists may be more vulnerable. Large-scale studies are needed before firmer conclusions can be reached. The author's survey shows that dental students generally receive some education on stress management, but many dental hygiene and graduate students do not. The author makes several recommendations for future research.


CONCLUSIONS
Although some dentists leave the profession by way of suicide or career change at a time when their careers should be the most rewarding, available data on stress and its impact on suicide incidence are inconclusive and flawed. The profession needs to identify the causes of stress-related suicides and provide assistance to those people who are affected by stress.
Alexander
R E
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Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery & Pharmacology, Baylor College of Dentistry, Texas A&M University System Health Science Center, P.O. Box 660677, Dallas, Texas 75266-0677, USA. ralexander@tambcd.edu
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003756:Dental Hygienists / Q000193:education; D003815:Dentists; D003816:Dentists, Women; D004497:Education, Dental; D004499:Education, Dental, Graduate; D005260:Female; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications* / Q000517:prevention & control; D013335:Students, Dental; D013405:Suicide