After adjustment for depression, no increased odds of suicidal ideation in association with burnout<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/h3>\n <\/b><\/p>\n <\/b><\/p>\n MONDAY, Dec. 14, 2020 (HealthDay News) — Depression, but not physician burnout, is associated with suicidal ideation among physicians, while burnout is associated with increased self-reported medical errors, according to a study published online Dec. 9 in JAMA Network Open<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n Nikitha K. Menon, from the Stanford University School of Medicine in California, and colleagues examined the correlation between burnout and suicidal ideation after adjustment for depression in a cross-sectional study. Attending and postgraduate trainee physicians were invited to complete an online survey; data were included for 1,354 respondents.<\/p>\n The researchers found that the odds of suicidal ideation were increased significantly with each standard deviation (SD) unit increase in burnout (odds ratio, 1.85; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.47 to 2.31). The correlation did not persist after adjustment for depression (odds ratio, 0.85; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.63 to 1.17). Each SD-unit increase in depression was associated with significantly increased odds of suicidal ideation in the adjusted model (odds ratio, 3.02; 95 percent confidence interval, 2.30 to 3.95). Each SD-unit increase in burnout was associated with an increase in self-reported medical errors in the adjusted model (odds ratio, 1.48; 95 percent confidence interval, 1.28 to 1.71), while there was no correlation seen for depression with self-reported medical errors (odds ratio, 1.01; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.88 to 1.16).<\/p>\n “The findings of this study suggest that burnout without depression does not increase suicide risk and can therefore be safely addressed outside of mental health care,” the authors write.<\/p>\n One author was coinventor of the instruments used in this study, and received a portion of royalties paid for their use. <\/p>\n