Health practices of Canadian physicians

Article Figures & Data

Table 1

Demographic characteristics of physician respondents: N = 3213.

CHARACTERISTIC	%
Sex
• Female	34
• Male	66
Birthplace
• Canada	68
• Elsewhere	32
Age, y
• < 45	34
• 45–64	55
• ≥ 65	12
Location of medical school
• Canada	79
• United States	1
• Other country	20
Specialty^*
• Anesthesiology	6
• Community medicine	2
• Family medicine	45
• Internal medicine	8
• Obstetrics and gynecology	4
• Pathology or laboratory medicine	2
• Pediatrics	5
• Psychiatry	8
• Radiology	3
• Surgical specialties	10
• Other	22
Main practice setting
• Inner city	20
• Urban or suburban	59
• Rural, small town, or remote	21
Work setting^*
• Private office or clinic (excluding free-standing walk-in clinics)	55
• Community clinic or community health centre	11
• Free-standing walk-in clinic	7
• Academic health sciences centre	29
• Community hospital	37
• Emergency department (community hospital or academic centre)	16
• Nursing home, home for the aged	11
• Administrative office	6
• Research unit	3
• Free-standing laboratory or diagnostic clinic	2
• Other	7
Primary professional income source^†
• Fee-for-service (insured or uninsured)	71
• Salary	13
• Capitation	3
• Sessional, per diem, or hourly	6
• Service contracts	5
• Other	3

Table 2

Basic health and disability status of physician respondents: N = 3213.

DESCRIPTION	%^*
General health status
• Excellent	24
• Very good	42
• Good	26
• Fair	8
• Poor	1
Physical health made it difficult to work in past mo
• None of the time	76
• Some of the time	19
• Half of the time	2
• Most of the time	1
• All of the time	1
Mental health made it difficult to work in past mo
• None of the time	74
• Some of the time	22
• Half of the time	2
• Most of the time	2
• All of the time	1
Mental health status
• ≥2 wk of anhedonia in the past y	21
• Depressed for ≥ 2 wk in the past y	23
• Thought about death a lot during those ≥ 2 wk	37^†
Long-term health condition reduces work activity
• Never	76
• Sometimes	20
• Often	4
Modified work environment because of a disability
• No	88
• Yes (practising with minor disability-related work modifications)	7
• Yes (practising with major disability-related work modifications)	6
Disability insurance is important for me
• Strongly agree	48
• Agree	38
• Neither agree nor disagree	9
• Disagree	4
• Strongly disagree	2
Have disability insurance
• Yes	86
Satisfied with disability insurance
• Strongly agree	25
• Agree	50
• Neither agree nor disagree	14
• Disagree	9
• Strongly disagree	2
Ever denied disability insurance
• Yes	9

↵* Percentages might not add to 100% owing to rounding.
↵† Proportion calculated based on the number of respondents who experienced anhedonia or depression for ≥ 2 wk.

Table 4

Tobacco use and alcohol consumption of physician respondents by sex: N = 3213.

SURVEY QUESTION	% TOTAL	% FEMALE	% MALE	P VALUE
How often do you now smoke cigarettes?				< .001
• Daily	8	8	8
• Occasionally	6	4	6
• Not at all	87	88	86
When did you stop smoking cigarettes? (ex-smokers only)				.0009
• < 1 y ago	3	2	3
• 1–2 y ago	3	2	3
• 3–5 y ago	4	4	4
• > 5 y ago	90	92	90
In the past month have you done the following?
• Smoked cigars	4	1	5	<.001
• Used chewing tobacco or snuff	0.4	0.3	0.4	<.0358
• Smoked a pipe	0.4	1	1	< .001
• Smoked part or all of a cigarette	4	3	5	< .001
How often do you now drink alcohol?				.001
• Less than once a mo	20	25	17
• Once a mo	5	7	5
• 2–3 times a mo	12	14	10
• Once a wk	15	14	16
• 2–3 times a wk	23	23	23
• 4–6 times a wk	19	14	21
• Every day	7	3	9
How many drinks do you average when you drink?				< .001
• 1 drink	48	58	43
• 2 drinks	38	34	40
• 3 drinks	10	5	13
• 4 drinks	3	1	3
• 5 drinks	0.3	1	1
• ≥ 6 drinks	1	1	1
How often in the past 12 mo have you had ≥ 5 drinks on 1 occasion?				< .001
• Never	70	81	64
• Less than once a mo	21	15	24
• Once a mo	5	2	6
• 2–3 times a mo	3	1	3
• Once a wk	1	0.4	2
• More than once a wk	1	1	1

Table 5

Nutrition and exercise habits of physician respondents by sex: N = 3213; P < .001.

BEHAVIOUR	TOTAL	FEMALE	MALE
Proportion consuming multivitamin or mineral
• Daily	31	35	30
• Weekly	41	45	39
Proportion consuming calcium
• Daily	18	28	13
• Weekly	25	38	18
Proportion consuming other vitamin or mineral supplements
• Daily	25	26	24
• Weekly	30	32	29
Median (mean) min/wk of exercise
• Total	225 (281)	210 (255)	240 (295)
• Mild	90 (124)	90 (112)	90 (130)
• Moderate	60 (80)	45 (74)	60 (82)
• Vigorous	40 (82)	30 (71)	45 (86)
Mean times/day eating fruits and vegetables	4.8	5.3	4.5
Median (mean) servings/day of caffeine	2 (1.8)	1 (1.6)	2 (1.9)

Table 6

Clinical preventive health measures undertaken by physician respondents by sex, from time of survey: N = 3213; P < .001.

PREVENTIVE MEASURE	% TOTAL	% FEMALE	% MALE
Physical checkup
• < 1 y	39	48	35
• 1 < 2 y	22	25	20
• 2 < 3 y	9	10	9
• 3 < 4 y	4	3	4
• 4 < 5 y	3	2	4
• ≥ 5 y	16	8	19
• Never	7	3	8
Blood pressure check
• < 1 y	67	70	66
• 1 < 2 y	17	19	17
• 2 < 3 y	6	6	6
• 3 < 4 y	3	2	3
• 4 < 5 y	2	1	2
• ≥ 5 y	5	2	6
• Never	1	1	1
Breast or testicular examination (by clinician)
• < 1 y	30	49	20
• 1 < 2 y	18	25	14
• 2 < 3 y	7	9	7
• 3 < 4 y	4	4	4
• 4 < 5 y	3	2	3
• ≥ 5 y	14	6	18
• Never	25	5	35
Influenza vaccine
• < 1 y	75	76	75
• 1 < 2 y	10	11	10
• 2 < 3 y	3	3	3
• 3 < 4 y	1	1	1
• 4 < 5 y	1	0.2	1
• ≥ 5 y	2	2	2
• Never	8	7	9
Cholesterol measurement
• < 1 y	44	34	49
• 1 < 2 y	21	23	20
• 2 < 3 y	11	12	10
• 3 < 4 y	5	6	4
• 4 < 5 y	3	2	3
• ≥5 y	7	7	7
• Never	10	15	8
Mammography			N/A
• < 1 y		26
• 1 < 2 y		16
• 2 < 3 y		5
• 3 < 4 y		2
• 4 < 5 y		2
• ≥ 5 y		4
• Never		45
Papanicolaou smear			N/A
• < 1 y		47
• 1 < 2 y		29
• 2 < 3 y		11
• 3 < 4 y		4
• 4 < 5 y		2
• ≥ 5 y		6
• Never		2

Table 7

Personal and professional attitudes of physician respondents toward physician health practices by sex: N = 3213; P < .001.

DESCRIPTION	% TOTAL	% FEMALE	% MALE
I feel I am perceived as being more professional if I live a more balanced life
• Strongly agree	23	23	23
• Agree	51	50	52
• Neither agree nor disagree	18	19	18
• Disagree	7	8	6
• Strongly disagree	1	1	1
I feel that I have a good balance between work and other activities in my life
• Strongly agree	14	14	14
• Agree	43	42	44
• Neither agree nor disagree	18	18	19
• Disagree	21	22	20
• Strongly disagree	4	4	3
My work environment generally encourages me to be healthy
• Strongly agree	6	6	6
• Agree	28	26	29
• Neither agree nor disagree	36	36	36
• Disagree	24	26	23
• Strongly disagree	6	6	5
If I can, I work when I am ill
• Strongly agree	19	19	19
• Agree	61	62	61
• Neither agree nor disagree	9	8	9
• Disagree	10	10	10
• Strongly disagree	1	1	1
If I can, I take care of my own medical needs
• Strongly agree	9	9	8
• Agree	49	52	48
• Neither agree nor disagree	17	14	19
• Disagree	22	22	22
• Strongly disagree	3	3	3
I know of resources that I would feel comfortable using if I needed help for a physical health problem
• Strongly agree	20	21	19
• Agree	65	65	65
• Neither agree nor disagree	10	8	10
• Disagree	5	5	5
• Strongly disagree	1	1	1
I know of resources that I would feel comfortable using if I needed help for a mental health/substance use problem
• Strongly agree	14	15	13
• Agree	55	54	56
• Neither agree nor disagree	16	14	17
• Disagree	13	14	12
• Strongly disagree	2	3	2