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European Journal of Public Health, Vol. 25, Supplement 3, 2015
Mortality trends in medical and nursing professionals in Slovenia 1982–2014 Tit Albreht T Albreht, M Omerzu, R Pribakovic Brinovec National Institute of Public Health of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia Contact:
[email protected]
Background Mortality of health professionals in Slovenia has been the topic of interest of the respective professional associations, their trade unions and the public. It raises many questions whenever it deflects negatively from the average mortality patterns in the general population. Previous studies by Selb and Albreht (1999) and Selb (2005) showed premature mortality for female doctors. We decided to explore mortality of medical and nursing professionals again and compare it to the general population. Methods We calculated individual data of age at death for medical and nursing professionals by sex and by degree of education also for nursing professionals. We compared average ages at death for each group of professionals (medical doctor per sex, registered nurses and assistant nurses) with the general population by sex for the period 1982 to 2014. Results Male medical doctors equaled with the general male population in 1990 at the average age at death and in 2014 died 7 years later than the general male population. Contrary to their male peers, female medical doctors were dying even 12 years earlier than the general female population in 1999 and have reached the same level as the general female population in 2013 and 2014. Mortality among nursing professionals, especially those with vocational training, who are dying at least 12 years earlier than the general population, has not significantly improved during the last 20 years. Conclusions Mortality trends in medical professionals have been steadily improving over the past 25 years, men showing a higher average age at death than the general male population. Female doctors have recently caught up with the general female population overcoming the 12 years gap through the last 15 years. Situation with mortality in nursing professionals, both registered nurses and nursing assistants, raises concerns as they are dying significantly earlier (at least 12 years) than the general population. Key messages Raising attention and awareness about the differences in mortality between health professionals and the general population Exploring the reasons arising from workplace that may impact the mortality gap
