Abstract
Membership lists of professional bodies were used to establish study populations of British pathologists (1955-73) and medical laboratory technicians (1963-73). The standardised mortality ratio (SMR) for pathologists was 60 and for medical laboratory technicians 67. Twenty-seven of the 310 deaths were due to suicide. These numbers gave SMRs of 250 for pathologists and 243 for medical laboratory technicians. Suicide was the commonest cause of death in female technicians. Access to lethal chemicals at work is a possible factor explaining the high proportion of suicide by poisoning compared with the general population. Suicide rates for pathologists exceed those of all medical practitioners; similary medical laboratory have higher rates than all laboratory technicians. Excess deaths from lymphatic and haemopoietic neoplasms were noted in English male pathologists (observed 8, expected 3-3; P less than 0-01). This difference is not due to Hodgkin's disease or leukaemia and remains unexplained. No other neoplastic diseases were noted as causing excess mortality in either occupational group but a small, possibly spurious, excess number of deaths was noted for aortic aneurysm in male pathologists (observed 4, expected 1-8).
Full text
PDF
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- Grist N. R. Hazards in the clinical pathology laboratory. Proc R Soc Med. 1973 Aug;66(8):795–796. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- HUEPER W. C. Occupational cancers with special reference to occupational cancer hazards to laboratory personnel. Am J Med Technol. 1961 May-Jun;27:157–164. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Harrington J. M. Risk of mercurial poisoning in laboratories using volumetric gas analysis. Lancet. 1974 Jan 19;1(7847):86–87. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)92301-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hill I. D. Computing man years at risk. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1972 May;26(2):132–134. doi: 10.1136/jech.26.2.132. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Hyman G., Shucksmith H. S. Letter: A shower of aortic aneurysms. Lancet. 1974 Aug 3;2(7875):298–298. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91471-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Li F. P., Fraumeni J. F., Jr, Mantel N., Miller R. W. Cancer mortality among chemists. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1969 Nov;43(5):1159–1164. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Murray R. M. Psychiatric illness in doctors. Lancet. 1974 Jun 15;1(7868):1211–1213. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91017-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- REITMAN M., WEDUM A. G. Microbiological safety. Public Health Rep. 1956 Jul;71(7):659–665. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Rose K. D., Rosow I. Physicians who kill themselves. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1973 Dec;29(6):800–805. doi: 10.1001/archpsyc.1973.04200060072011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Steppacher R. C., Mausner J. S. Suicide in male and female physicians. JAMA. 1974 Apr 15;228(3):323–328. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Vianna N. J., Polan A. K., Keogh M. D., Greenwald P. Hodgkin's disease mortality among physicians. Lancet. 1974 Jul 20;2(7873):131–133. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(74)91557-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]