Table-2.
Comparative table of studies addressing occupational risk factors to suicide and mental health issues in veterinarians, collected by non-systematic review in updated scientific databases.
| Reference and country | Sample | Total sample size (response rate), design | Evaluation tool | Exposure | Outcome | Main results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [45], UK | Veterinary surgeons | 1,796 (56%), cross-sectional survey | HSE MS; HADS-A/D; WEMWBS | - Number of hours worked - Client expectations - Making professional mistakes - Administrative and clerical tasks - Client complaints or litigation - Unexpected clinical outcomes - Out-of-hours on-call duties |
Work-related stress; anxiety; depression | 43%*, 2.24** (n = 1,756) 28%*,1.83** (n = 1,755) 40%*, 2.22** (n = 1,747) 38%*, 2.12** (n = 1,740) 43%*, 2.19** (n = 1,583) 40%*, 1.98** (n = 1,578) 38%*, 1.93** (n = 1,512) |
| [44], Norway | Veterinarians | 2,596 (75%), cross-sectional survey | PQ; BCI; SCL-5; CJSQ | - Emotional demands - Work-life balance - Fear of complaints/criticism |
Serious suicidal thoughts | OR = 1.12, 95% CI (1.08–1.16) OR = 1.13, 95% CI (1.09–1.17) OR = 1.18, 95% CI (1.11–1.25) |
| [2], USA | Veterinarians | 11,627 (NA), cross-sectional survey | K-6 PDS | - Demands of practice (work overload, long work hours) - Practice management responsibilities - Making professional mistakes - Client complaints - Dealing with personal, staff, or client grief - Unrealistic client expectations - Animal deaths (from illness or euthanasia) - Ethical challenges - Fear of malpractice litigation - Educational debt - Poor social support - Unclear management and work role - Lack of participation in decision-making |
- Serious psychological distress - Depressive episodes - Suicide ideation - Suicide attempt |
9% (n = 1,077) 31% (n = 3,655) 17% (n = 1,952) 1% (n = 157) |
| [17], USA | Veterinarians | 3,540 (17.7%), cross-sectional survey | K-6 PDS | - Workload (>45 h/week) - Working on evening hours - Working more hours than desired - Working fewer hours than desired - Student debts |
Serious psychological distress. | 6.9% (n = 1,364) 9.4% (n = 1,169) 8.4% (n = 1,581) 6.4% (n = 156) 5.3% (n = 3,539) |
HSE MS=Health and Safety Executive Management Standards Indicator tool, HADS-A/D=Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale – anxiety/depression, WEMWBS=Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, PQ=Paykel’s Questionnaire, BCI=Basic Character Inventory, SCL-5=Symptom Check-list-5, CJSQ=Cooper’s Job Stress Questionnaire, K-6 PDS=Kessler-6 psychological distress scale, NA=Not applicable.
*
Percentage of respondents reporting that these stressors contribute “quite a lot” or “very much” to their stress,
**
Mean scores in the HADS-A/D questionnaire