Reviewing a Decade of Change for Veterinarians: Past, Present and Gaps in Researching Stress, Coping and Mental Health Risks

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Veterinarians work in a very complex profession; they operate within a triad (veterinarian, animal and animal handler) to take care of the animal. Stress and confrontations with a large variety of demands lead to a high risk for mental health problems. To gather additional insights on stressors we conducted a systematic review using several scientific databases indexing published studies of the last decade. The aim of the process was to structure stressors and burdens based on existing models to see potential gaps in research and find starting points for interventions. After employing a variety of exclusion criteria, 30 studies published in the last decade were included in the review and stressors were be grouped in biological, psychological and social stressors. Overall, most stressors were found in the social category which include interactions with animal handlers. This result indicates that communication with animal handlers is one of the main stressors in the veterinarian practice. Veterinarians need interventions that are tailored to their need to lower the risks for mental health disorders and ultimately suicide. With regards to the results more training of communication techniques might be an example for a starting point to decrease the burden for veterinarians. Although several dynamics of stressors, how they interact, is still unclear, research has found enough evidence to develop more specifically designed health promotion measures. ABSTRACT: Veterinary medicine is a highly complex profession that includes a very specific set of stressors that range from individual to social aspects, with several of them being relevant risk factors for a variety of conditions. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and cluster the material on stressors and suicidality in the veterinarian practice published during the last 10 years. The systematic review was conducted employing the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines using PubMed, PsycNet, Google Scholar, Medline, PsycINFO, PSYNDEX and Web of Science (2012–present) by two independent researchers resulting in the inclusion of 30 quantitative and mixed methods studies. Results of these studies on stressors were categorized using the bio-psycho-social model showing that social stressors play a prominent role. This category includes the largest number of stressors indicating that the human–human interactions in the veterinarian practice are the main stressor, underlining that training in communication techniques is a potential starting point for interventions. In addition to stressors, the results showed an additional category “psychological consequences” describing mental health disorders and suicide. Although there are still gaps in research there is enough evidence to establish more tailored health promotion measures for veterinarians.