Prediction of suicidal ideation risk in a prospective cohort study of medical interns
The purpose of this study was to identify individual and residency program factors associated with increased suicide risk, as measured by suicidal ideation. We utilized a prospective, longitudinal cohort study design to assess the prevalence and predictors of suicidal ideation in 6,691 (2012-2014 co...
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Published in | PloS one Vol. 16; no. 12; p. e0260620 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
United States
Public Library of Science
02.12.2021
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | The purpose of this study was to identify individual and residency program factors associated with increased suicide risk, as measured by suicidal ideation. We utilized a prospective, longitudinal cohort study design to assess the prevalence and predictors of suicidal ideation in 6,691 (2012-2014 cohorts, training data set) and 4,904 (2015 cohort, test data set) first-year training physicians (interns) at hospital systems across the United States. We assessed suicidal ideation two months before internship and then quarterly through intern year. The prevalence of reported suicidal ideation in the study population increased from 3.0% at baseline to a mean of 6.9% during internship. 16.4% of interns reported suicidal ideation at least once during their internship. In the training dataset, a series of baseline demographic (male gender) and psychological factors (high neuroticism, depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation during internship. Further, prior quarter psychiatric symptoms (depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation) and concurrent work-related factors (increase in self-reported work hours and medical errors) were associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation. A model derived from the training dataset had a predicted area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve (AUC) of 0.83 in the test dataset. The suicidal ideation risk predictors analyzed in this study can help programs and interns identify those at risk for suicidal ideation before the onset of training. Further, increases in self-reported work hours and environments associated with increased medical errors are potentially modifiable factors for residency programs to target to reduce suicide risk. |
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Bibliography: | ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Current address: Department of Health Policy and Management, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States of America Competing Interests: I have read the journal’s policy and the authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: SS reports having received research funding from the NIMH (R01 MH101459; website: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/index.shtml) and an American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Standard Research Grant (website: https://afsp.org/). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The above competing interests do not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Current address: Biogen Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America These authors are joint senior authors on this work |
ISSN: | 1932-6203 1932-6203 |
DOI: | 10.1371/journal.pone.0260620 |