Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2023 Mar:321:115057.
doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2023.115057. Epub 2023 Jan 22.

Suicidal thoughts and burnout among physicians during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Diego de la Vega Sánchez  1 , María Irigoyen-Otiñano  2 , Juan José Carballo  3 , Julio A Guija  4 , Lucas Giner  5
Affiliations
Observational Study

Suicidal thoughts and burnout among physicians during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain

Diego de la Vega Sánchez et al. Psychiatry Res. 2023 Mar.

Abstract

Background: The exact mechanisms through which the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic could influence the prevalence of suicidal thoughts are not yet known, both in the general population and in health workers. The objectives of the present study are to determine the prevalence of suicidal thoughts in the physician population and to detect sociodemographic and clinical variables associated with presenting suicidal thoughts during the first wave of COVID-19.

Methods: Cross-sectional observational study via an online survey distributed in Spain in June 2020 via 52 Official Medical Associations. The sample is made up of all practicing and registered physicians in Spain (3,140 of the 270,235 registered physicians in Spain). An online questionnaire which included sociodemographic, professional and work variables, variables related to the pandemic, work data in relation to COVID-19 and clinical variables (medical-psychiatric history and previous suicidal behaviour) was distributed.

Results: In our sample, the prevalence of serious suicidal thoughts was 6.31% and up to 17.32% of the subjects reported thoughts about killing themselves during the pandemic. Being female (Exp (B)= 1.989, p=0.001), presence of previous suicide attempts (Exp(B)= 6.127, p=<0.001), taking a psychotropic drug (Exp(B)= 2.470, p=<0.001) and working in a different area during the pandemic (Exp(B)= 1.751, p= 0.037) were associated with a higher risk of suicidal ideation. Cohabiting was a protective factor in the development of suicidal ideation although not in all our measures (Exp(B)=0.940, p=0.850 Vs Exp (B)= 0.620, p=0.018).

Limitations: The main limitation of this study is its cross-sectional nature, which prevents establishing a causal relationship. As a strength, it stands out that it is a large sample of the population studied and in a particularly complex context of the pandemic.

Conclusions: Suicidal thoughts among the Spanish registered physician population during the pandemic is high and mainly associated with socio-demographic factors, clinical mental health variables, and aspects of job satisfaction.

Keywords: Pandemic; Physician population; Suicidal thoughts; Suicide.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors have no conflict of interest in relation to the preparation of this manuscript.

References

    1. Alonso J, Vilagut G, Mortier P, Ferrer M, Alayo I, Aragón-Peña A, Aragonès E, Campos M, Cura-González ID, Emparanza JI, Espuga M, Forjaz MJ, González-Pinto A, Haro JM, López-Fresneña N, Salázar ADM, Molina JD, Ortí-Lucas RM, Parellada M, Pelayo-Terán JM, Pérez-Zapata A, Pijoan JI, Plana N, Puig MT, Rius C, Rodríguez-Blázquez C, Sanz F, Serra C, Kessler RC, Bruffaerts R, Vieta E, Pérez-Solà V. MINDCOVID Working group. Mental health impact of the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic on Spanish healthcare workers: a large cross-sectional survey. Rev. Psiquiatr. Salud. Ment. (Engl Ed). 2021;14(2):90–105. doi: 10.1016/j.rpsm.2020.12.001. Epub 2020 Dec 10. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bressington DT, Cheung TCC, Lam SC, Suen LKP, Fong TKH, Ho HSW, et al. Association between depression, health beliefs, and face mask use during the covid-19 pandemic. Front. Psychiatry. 2020;11 - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brown S, Schuman DL. Suicide in the Time of COVID-19: a perfect storm. J. Rural Health. 2021;37(1):211–214. doi: 10.1111/jrh.12458. Epub 2020 Jun 8. PMID: 32362027; PMCID: PMC7267332. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bruffaerts R, Voorspoels W, Jansen L, Kessler RC, Mortier P, Vilagut G, De Vocht J, Alonso J. Suicidality among healthcare professionals during the first COVID-19 wave. J. Affect. Disord. 2021;283:66–70. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.01.013. Jan 11Epub ahead of printPMID: 33524660; PMCID: PMC7832920. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bryan CJ, Bryan AO, Baker JC. Associations among state-level physical distancing measures and suicidal thoughts and behaviors among U.S. adults during the early COVID-19 pandemic. Suicide Life Threat. Behav. 2020:e12653. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types