Suicide and depressive symptoms possible correlates among a sample of Egyptian physicians: observational cross-sectional study (online survey)

Compared to other occupations, physicians are more susceptible to depression and suicide. Suicide among physicians in some countries reached up to 1.5- to threefold higher than the general population. However, this rate was not homogenous in all countries. Most of the Egyptian studies were related to the stressful pandemic event, but the actual prevalence of depression among physicians is still under research. To the best of the researcher's knowledge, no other study has been conducted to evaluate the risk of suicide among Egyptian physicians. The study aimed to screen for depressive symptoms and suicide among Egyptian physicians and to investigate the correlates associated with suicide ideations. This cross-sectional survey included Egyptian physicians recruited online by Google Forms. Depressive symptoms were screened using the Beck Depression Scale (BDI-II), while suicidal ideas were assessed using the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS). Six hundred sixty Egyptian physicians completed the survey following a two-week pilot study between January 10 and July 16, 2023. The average age was 39.1 years, and 71.4% were married. 49.1% were medical specialists. The median daily working hours were eight, and 27.7% of the physicians attended night shifts. 22.3% had a psychiatric illness, and 34.3% had a chronic disease. Younger and single physicians of both sexes were more prone to suicide risk (p-value = 0.019 and 0.021, respectively). Those with psychiatric or chronic medical disorders had a higher suicidal risk (p-values