U.S. nurses and other healthcare workers had significantly higher-than-average suicide rates in the decade before COVID-19 hit, researchers have found, even though the issue gained prominence during the pandemic.
Tracking more than 1.8 million employed adults between 2008 and 2019, researchers found suicide rates per 100,000 people were 32% higher for healthcare workers overall than for non-healthcare workers, after accounting for age, sex, race and ethnicity, marital status, education, and other factors.
“During the COVID-19 pandemic peak, the mental health of healthcare workers received considerable national attention,” the researchers wrote on Tuesday in JAMA.
“As the pandemic has receded, efforts to improve the mental health of healthcare workers could lose momentum,” they cautioned.
Suicide rates were 81% higher among “healthcare support workers,” such as nursing aides, occupational therapy assistants, and dental assistants, than among non-healthcare workers, the study found. The rate was 64% higher among registered nurses and 39% higher among “health technicians,” including lab technologists, emergency medical technicians and paramedics.
Suicide rates were not elevated among physicians, social and behavioral healthcare workers, or other practitioners involved in diagnosing or treating patients, the researchers found.
The link between healthcare occupations and suicide risk may be significantly greater for women than for men, the data suggested.
Previous studies have shown that healthcare workers have higher risks for mental health problems, the researchers noted.
It will be important to find and fix the work-related factors that contribute to healthcare workers’ mental health risks and to ensure that workers who seek mental health treatment do not suffer punitive consequences, they said.
(If you’re thinking about suicide, are worried about a friend or loved one, or would like emotional support, call 988 in the United States, 833-456-4566 in Canada, 0800 689-5652 in the UK, or 13 11 14 in Australia.)
