Background: Healthcare workers are at elevated risk for suicide; though it has yet to be studied, this risk may be exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. News media coverage of high-profile suicide is associated with an increased risk of subsequent suicides. No analysis has yet been published of US media practices for reporting on healthcare worker suicides during the pandemic. Aims: The researchers aimed to evaluate pandemic-era media practices by investigating adherence to best-practice suicide reporting guidelines in coverage of Dr. Lorna Breen's death. Methods: The researchers conducted a content analysis of all unique articles by top outlets reporting Dr. Breen's death between April 26 and 29, 2020, and scored them based on their adherence to the 15 best-practice suicide reporting guidelines. Results: Every media outlet violated an average of at least 5 of 15 suicide guidelines in reporting on Dr. Breen's death; some abided by as few as 2 of 15 recommended guidelines. Seven of 15 guidelines were adhered to by fewer than one third of articles. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number, notably easy to include, appeared in only 75% of articles. Limitations: The researchers were limited to reviewing media coverage of one specific instance of COVID-era healthcare worker suicide, making these findings applicable as a prominent case study rather than forming a generalizable claim about suicide reporting during the pandemic or about reporting on healthcare suicides. Conclusion: These violations highlight a range of opportunities to improve suicide prevention in the media, which has a responsibility to ensure reporting does not exacerbate the risk of suicide. Improved adherence to these guidelines could reduce harm for healthcare workers during the pandemic.

中文翻译：

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美国媒体在 COVID-19 大流行期间对医生自杀死亡的报道中违反了自杀预防指南。

背景：医护人员的自杀风险较高；尽管尚未对其进行研究，但这种风险可能会因 COVID-19 大流行而加剧。新闻媒体对高调自杀的报道与随后自杀的风险增加有关。尚未发布对美国媒体在大流行期间报道医护人员自杀的做法的分析。目的：研究人员旨在通过调查对 Lorna Breen 博士死亡报道中对最佳实践自杀报告指南的遵守情况来评估大流行时代的媒体实践。方法：研究人员对报告 Breen 博士在 2020 年 4 月 26 日至 29 日期间死亡的顶级媒体的所有独特文章进行了内容分析，并根据他们对 15 条最佳实践自杀报告指南的遵守情况进行评分。结果：每家媒体在报道布林博士的死讯时，平均至少违反了 15 条自杀指南中的 5 条；有些人只遵守了 15 条推荐指南中的 2 条。不到三分之一的文章遵守了 15 条指南中的 7 条。国家自杀预防生命线号码，特别容易包含，仅出现在 75% 的文章中。局限性：研究人员仅限于审查媒体对 COVID 时代医护人员自杀的一个具体实例的报道，使这些发现可以作为一个突出的案例研究，而不是形成关于大流行期间的自杀报告或关于医疗保健自杀报告的普遍主张。结论：这些违规行为凸显了媒体改善自杀预防的一系列机会，它有责任确保报告不会加剧自杀风险。更好地遵守这些指南可以减少大流行期间对医护人员的伤害。