CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 147Suicide and Self-Harm StudiesHomicide, Infanticide, and Child AbuseWorkplace Health and Well-being

Patterns of suicide by occupation in England and Wales: 2001-2005

Open access
Meltzer, Howard, Griffiths, Clare, Brock, Anita, Rooney, Cleo, Jenkins, Rachel·2008·British Journal of Psychiatry
DOI 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.040550
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Suicide rates vary by occupation but this relationship has not been frequently studied. AIMS: To identify the occupations with significantly high suicide rates in England and Wales in 2001-2005 and to compare these with rates from previous decades. METHOD: Mortality data from death registrations in England and Wales over the calendar years 2001-2005 were used to calculate proportional mortality ratios (PMRs) and standardised mortality ratios (SMRs) for both men and women aged 20-64 years by their occupation. RESULTS: Among men, in 2001-2005, construction workers, and plant and machine operatives had the greatest number of suicides. The highest PMRs were for health professionals (PMR=164) and agricultural workers (PMR=133). Among women, administrative and secretarial workers had the greatest number of suicides yet the highest PMRs were found for health (PMR=232), and sport and fitness (PMR=244) occupations. CONCLUSIONS: Excess mortality from suicide remains in some occupational groups. The apparent changes in suicide patterns merits further exploration, for example examining the prevalence of depression and suicidal ideation in medical practitioners, dentists, veterinarians, agricultural workers, librarians and construction workers.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1192/bjp.bp.107.040550

Cites

28 of 28 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Burnout is associated with depression, anxiety, fractured relationships, increased substance abuse, and increased likelihood of suicidal ideation.

    “Symptoms of overload and burnout are increasingly being reported, manifesting as depression, anxiety, fractured relationships, a rise in substance abuse and even an increased likelihood of subsequent suicidal ideation (7–9).”

    From Digital resilience interventions for healthcare workers: a systematic review (2025) · cites this paper as [9]

    The Discussion (page not provided) describes a proposed pathway from stressful life events and limited social support to depressive thoughts and suicidal ideation. It does not link those outcomes to burnout or report anxiety, fractured relationships, or increased substance abuse as manifestations of burnout. The Policy implications mention alcohol as a factor facilitating suicide, not as an outcome of burnout. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Depression in the farming community is increasing and suicide rates are among the highest in any occupational group in the UK.

    “Depression in the farming community is increasing and suicide rates are among the highest in any occupational group in the UK [3].”

    From Improving the mental health of farmers: what types of remote support are acceptable, feasible, and improve outcomes? A feasibility RCT (2024) · cites this paper as [3]

    The Results and ‘Suicide mortality rates 2001–2005’ sections identify agricultural workers as a high-suicide group and report a high suicide mortality ratio for male farmers in England and Wales. The paper does not establish that depression in the farming community is increasing, and its findings do not cover the whole UK. Page numbers are unavailable in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.90)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • One agricultural worker per week takes their own life in the UK.

    “It is currently estimated that one agricultural worker per week takes their own life in the UK [3].”

    From Improving the mental health of farmers: what types of remote support are acceptable, feasible, and improve outcomes? A feasibility RCT (2024) · cites this paper as [3]

    The Results report elevated suicide mortality among agricultural workers in England and Wales in 2001–2005. The passages found do not give a count supporting one death per week, and the study does not establish a current estimate for the whole UK. (LLM, conf=0.83)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Risk of suicide is almost twice the national UK average among those working in specific agricultural roles such as harvesting crops and rearing animals.

    “Risk of suicide is also higher amongst those working in specific agricultural roles such as harvesting crops and rearing animals (almost twice the national UK average) [3].”

    From Improving the mental health of farmers: what types of remote support are acceptable, feasible, and improve outcomes? A feasibility RCT (2024) · cites this paper as [3]

    The ‘Suicide mortality rates 2001–2005’ section reports elevated suicide mortality among male agricultural trades workers, including farmers, relative to the general population of England and Wales. Its near-twofold figure for farmers is a proportional mortality ratio (PMR=189), not a measure showing that their suicide risk was nearly twice the national average. The passage does not give that magnitude for crop-harvesting or animal-rearing roles specifically, and the study does not cover the whole UK. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Brock A, Griffiths C. Trends in suicide by method in England and Wales, 1979-2001. Health Stat Q 2003; 20: 7-18.
  2. Health Service Executive, National Suicide Review Group, Department of Health and Children. National Strategy for Action on Suicide Prevention 2005-2014. Health Service Exectutive, 2005.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Meltzer, H., Griffiths, C., Brock, A., Rooney, C., & Jenkins, R.
Affiliations
  • University of Leicester (GB)
  • Office for National Statistics (GB)
  • Centre for Mental Health (GB)
Corresponding author
Meltzer, Howard
ORCID
Venue
British Journal of Psychiatry
Publisher
Royal College of Psychiatrists
Published
2008-07
Volume
193
Issue
1
Pages
73-76
ISSN
  • 0007-1250 (ISSN-L)
  • 1472-1465
DOI
10.1192/bjp.bp.107.040550
OpenAlex
W2050968932
Cited by
147
References
28
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 7 · 2015: 11 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 13 · 2012: 7
FWCI
8.16
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 3472 d)
Locations
  • The British Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Homicide, Infanticide, and Child Abuse
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Workplace Health and Well-being
Keywords
suicide, construction workers, healthcare workers, agricultural labor, sex differences in suicide, proportional mortality ratio, standardized mortality ratio, England and Wales
MeSH terms
Adult, England, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Occupations, Suicide, Wales

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review