Study explores suicide rate among residents in radiology and other specialties
A new analysis published Wednesday explores suicide rates among residents in radiology and other medical specialties.
Researchers labeled this the leading cause of death for fellows and residents between 2015 to 2021, sharing their findings in JAMA Network Open. During this timeframe, 161 medical trainees died, with suicide the top cause (29%), followed by neoplastic disease (17%), other medical and surgical concerns (14%), accidents (14%), and unintentional poisonings (13%).
The study is a follow-up to an analysis exploring resident deaths from 2000 to 2014. Despite efforts to address burnout and depression among medical trainees, mortality rates have remained the same across all causes, except for neoplastic disease. Researchers labeled the suicide rate during the first three months of training “alarming.”
A total of 19 diagnostic radiology residents died between 2000 to 2021, including six by neoplastic disease and five from suicide.
“The number of residents who died by suicide during their very first academic quarter, observed during both study windows, remains concerning,” Nick Yaghmour, with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and co-authors concluded. “Future efforts to address trainee well-being must focus on the drivers and mitigating factors of distress, particularly during transitions.”
Researchers gathered their data from ACGME-accredited training programs, using the National Death Index to pinpoint causation. Nearly 371,000 residents and fellows participated in training during the study period. Resident death rates from 2000 to 2021, including suicide, were lower than age- and gender-matched peers across other causes, Yaghmour and colleagues reported. The highest specialty suicide rate was for pathology at 19.76 deaths per 100,000 person-years, followed by anesthesiology (8.14), psychiatry (7.91), surgery (7.6) and diagnostic radiology (5.14).
“While this study was not designed to evaluate the effectiveness of suicide prevention strategies, the absence of significant changes in suicide rates since the previous study window underscores the need for a deeper understanding of the underlying causes of resident suicide and effective mitigation strategies,” the authors advised. “The relatively high number of suicides during the first academic quarter of residency and the final quarter of the second year suggests heightened distress during major academic and professional transitions.”
The analysis comes amid ongoing national and local initiatives focused on easing the transition into residency. Yaghmour and co-authors called for additional attention directed toward other, less recognized transition points during residency.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.