Health-related behaviors of women physicians vs other women in the United States.
- 23 February 1998
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of Internal Medicine
- Vol. 158 (4), 342
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.158.4.342
Abstract
Objective To examine the health-related behaviors of women physicians compared with those of other women of high and not high socioeconomic status and with national goals. Methods We examined the results of a questionnaire-based survey of a stratified random sample, the Women Physicians' Health Study, and a US telephone survey (Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Ga). We analyzed 3 samples of women aged 30 to 70 years: (1) respondents from the Women Physicians' Health Study (n=4501); (2) respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n=1316) of the highest socioeconomic status; and (3) all other respondents from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (n=35361). Results Women physicians were more likely than other women of high socioeconomic status and even more likely than other women not to smoke. The few physicians (3.7%) who smoked reported consuming fewer cigarettes per day, and physicians who had stopped smoking reported quitting at a younger age than women in the general population. Women physicians were less likely to report abstaining from alcohol, but those who drank reported consuming less alcohol per episode than other women and were less likely to report binging on alcohol than women in the general population. Unlike women in the general population and even other women of high socioeconomic status, women physicians' reported behaviors exceeded national goals for the year 2000 in all examined behaviors and screening habits. Conclusions Women physicians report having generally good health habits even when compared with other socioeconomically advantaged women and report exceeding all examined national goals for personal screening practices and other personal health behaviors. Women physicians' behaviors may provide useful standards for other women in the United States.Keywords
This publication has 11 references indexed in Scilit:
- Alcohol and heart disease: the implications of the U-shaped curve.BMJ, 1993
- The smoking habits of Minnesota physicians.American Journal of Public Health, 1993
- Socioeconomic status and health: how education, income, and occupation contribute to risk factors for cardiovascular disease.American Journal of Public Health, 1992
- A Prospective Study of Moderate Alcohol Consumption and the Risk of Coronary Disease and Stroke in WomenNew England Journal of Medicine, 1988
- THE MEASUREMENT OF SOCIAL CLASS IN EPIDEMIOLOGYEpidemiologic Reviews, 1988
- A model for predicting the counseling practices of physiciansJournal of General Internal Medicine, 1986
- Do physicians preach what they practice? A study of physicians' health habits and counseling practicesPublished by American Medical Association (AMA) ,1984
- Preventive health behavior of physiciansAcademic Medicine, 1982
- A Profile of the Health-Promoting Behaviors of Physicians and LawyersNew England Journal of Medicine, 1980
- Mortality among physicians: A cohort studyJournal of Chronic Diseases, 1971