Mortality rates for Finnish anaesthesiologists and paediatricians are lower than those for the general population.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies on mortality among anaesthesiologists in the Nordic countries have reported inconsistent results. In an effort to examine mortality patterns among Finnish anaesthesiologists, we compared anaesthesiologists and paediatricians with the general population.

METHODS: The year of birth and mortality data for anaesthesiologists and paediatricians deceased during the period 1996-2014 were assembled from the membership files maintained by the Finnish Medical Association. Data for the general population and causes of death were obtained from the database of Statistics Finland. Standardized mortality ratios (SMR) for anaesthesiologists and paediatricians were calculated using the general population as a reference.

RESULTS: During the follow-up period, there were 62 deaths among anaesthesiologists and and 95 among peadiatricians. Anaesthesiologists had a lower mean age at death (66.9 years) than did peadiatricians (76.2 years). Standardized mortality ratios for both the groups were well below 1.0. The rate of suicides for anaesthesiologists was more than three times higher than that for paediatricians and more than five times higher for that of the general population.

DISCUSSION: We found no evidence of increased mortality for anaesthesiologists or paediatricians. The number of suicides among anaesthesiologists was higher than among paediatricians and the general population.