Suicidal thoughts among adults by selected occupations --United States, 2008-2010

Background: There have been conflicting findings of increased risk of suicidal behavior among certain occupations such as health care practitioners. This study examined the association of suicidal thoughts with selected occupational groups among adults in the United States using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH). NSDUH is a nationally representative survey administered to civilian, non-institutionalized adults aged 18 years or older in the U.S. Methods: This study examined 77,300 currently employed adults aged 18-64 years who participated in the 2008-2010 NSDUH. Multivariate logistic regression modeling was applied among the overall study sample and then stratified models by age (18 to 29, 30 to 49, and 50 to 64) were applied. Results: None of the occupational categories we examined in the multivariate regression models had significantly higher levels of risk for serious thoughts of suicide than our reference category (management-related occupations). Comparing suicidal thoughts between occupational groups and the national average stratified by age, only one group, sales and related workers aged 18 to 29 years, had a significantly higher rate of suicidal thoughts than the national average for this age group. Moreover, certain occupations (e.g., administrative and office support) reported significantly lower suicidal thoughts than the national average, although those reports varied by age. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that specific occupations previously associated with increased rates of suicide are not likewise associated with increased reports of suicidal thoughts, however some occupations did report increased levels of suicidal thoughts which may warrant focused intervention.