[Health behavior of polish physicians].
Physicians are perceived by patients as a competent source of information about health. However, the professional knowledge of health does not have to be identical with practicing health behavior in private life. To assess the health behaviors of Polish doctors. We examined 614 medical practitioners. The mean age was 49.16±13.56 years. The average body mass index (BMI) was 24.81±4.09 kg /m2. The subjects completed medical studies on average 23.68±13.77 years ago. The majority (80.88%) had at least one medical specialization. The method was a diagnostic survey. Health Behavior Inventory (Inwentarz Zachowań Zdrowotnych or IZZ) was used and a special questionnaire containing questions about health behaviors not included in the IZZ. The dominance of unhealthy behaviors was observed in 27.34% of the group studied, the dominance of healthy behavior in 29.45% of participants. The others (43.21%) declared a similar extent of behavior in both categories. Participants were working an average of 40.42±18.77 hours a week, while they were sleeping an average of 6.56 ± 1.03 hours a day. We observed the difference in the results of IZZ according to gender (p <0.01) and the partnership situation (p <0.01). It was also shown that there is a positive correlation between the result of IZZ and the time elapsed since the completion of specialization (p <0.01). Univariate analysis demonstrated a positive correlation between the fact of having a partner and a result of IZZ (p <0.01) and the difference between people showing healthy and unhealthy behaviors in terms of age (p<0.05) and the time elapsed since the completion of specialization (p<0.01). 1. Polish doctors are a diverse group in terms of health behavior. 2. Undertaking health behaviors by doctors is encouraged by: female sex, older age, lower BMI, a long time after completion of specialization. 3. Performing the medical profession is not the same as the manifestation of healthy behavior in private life.
PubMed Abstracts
PubMed Abstracts