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Health practices of Canadian physicians

Correspondence: Dr Erica Frank, Professor and Canada Research Chair, School of Population and Public Health and Department of Family Practice, University of British Columbia, 5804 Fairview Ave, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3; telephone 604 822 4925; e-mail efrank{at}emory.edu

OBJECTIVE To study the health and health practices of Canadian physicians, which can often influence patient health.

DESIGN Mailed survey.

SETTING Canada.

PARTICIPANTS A random sample of 8100 Canadian physicians; 7934 were found to be eligible and 3213 responded (40.5% response rate).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Factors that influence health, such as consumption of fruits and vegetables, amount of exercise and alcohol consumption, smoking status, body mass idex, and participation in preventive health screening measures, as well as work-life balance and emotional stability.

RESULTS Canadian physicians are healthy. More than 90% reported being in good to excellent health, and only 5% reported that poor physical or mental health made it difficult to handle their workload more than half the time in the previous month (although a quarter had reduced work activity because of long-term health conditions). Eight percent were obese, 3% currently smoked cigarettes, and 1% typically consumed 5 drinks or more on days when they drank alcohol. Physicians averaged 4.7 hours of exercise per week and ate fruits and vegetables 4.8 times a day. Their personal screening practices were largely compliant with Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommendations. They averaged 38 hours per week on patient care and 11 hours on other professional activities. Fifty-seven percent agreed that they had a good work-life balance, and 11% disagreed with the statement "If I can, I work when I am ill."

CONCLUSION Compared with self-reports from the general Canadian population, Canadian physicians, like American physicians, seem to be healthy and to have generally healthy behaviour. There is, however, room for improvement in physicians’ personal and professional well-being, and improving their personal health practices could be an efficient and beneficent way to improve the health of all Canadians.