Perceived impact of patients’ suicide and serious suicidal attempts on their treating psychiatrists and trainees: a national cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

BMC Psychiatry

Research

Azzam S. Alkhalifah¹  Mohammed Alammari¹  Rayan Alhumaid¹  Fahad D. Alosaimi²  Mohannad Almanea³  Maha Alshutwi⁴  Moayad Alawad⁴ 

[1] College of Medicine, Qassim University, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia;Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraydah, Saudi Arabia;Saudi Commission for Health Specialties, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia;

关键词: Suicide;    Patient;    Psychiatrist;    Prevalence;    Impact;    Trauma;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12888-023-05042-x

 received in 2023-04-27, accepted in 2023-07-21,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPatient suicides are significant events that tremendously affect psychiatrists— personally and professionally. Very few studies have focused on studying the impact of both serious suicidal attempts and completed suicide on psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees.AimThis study assessed the prevalence and impact of patient suicide and serious suicidal attempts on psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees in Saudi Arabia.MethodsThis national cross-sectional study of psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees was conducted in Saudi Arabia. Participants completed an online self-administered questionnaire to assess emotional and professional impacts and the traumatic impact of patient suicide using the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R).Results178 psychiatrists were enrolled in this study. The prevalence rate of patient suicide among participants was 38.8%, and they experienced adverse emotional reactions. Additionally, among those who were not exposed to patient suicide, 12.9% reported exposure to serious suicide attempts, and almost all of them experienced related negative emotions. The most frequently reported emotions were sadness (61.95%), shock (48.91%), and guilt (25%), and these emotions lasted longer in completed patient suicide cases than attempted suicide. Nearly 84% of participants who experienced suicide reported its impact on their profession. The most reported professional impacts were increased focus on suicide cues, attention to legal aspects, and a tendency to hospitalize. Of participants who experienced suicide, 75.4% reported that the overall impact of suicidal events on their professional practice had improved. Of the total number of respondents who experienced either suicide or serious suicidal attempts, 10.9% reported symptoms of PTSD.Conclusions The study highlighted the emotional and professional burden that psychiatrists and psychiatry trainees experience due to patient’s completed suicides and serious suicidal attempts. Additionally, it emphasized the need for further research to study the benefits of implementing preparatory and training programs to help trainees and psychiatrists in such instances.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature 2023

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