Skip to main content
PMC home page
American Journal of Public Health logoLink to American Journal of Public Health
. 1991 Feb;81(2):177–182. doi: 10.2105/ajph.81.2.177

Alcohol use and abuse in random samples of physicians and medical students.

W E McAuliffe 1, M Rohman 1, P Breer 1, G Wyshak 1, S Santangelo 1, E Magnuson 1
PMCID: PMC1404970  PMID: 1990855

Abstract

BACKGROUND. This study sought to resolve conflicting views about whether physicians are especially prone to alcohol abuse. METHODS. Using an anonymous, mailed questionnaire on substance use, we surveyed 500 physicians, 510 pharmacists, and 974 of their students. The physicians and pharmacists were selected randomly from the state society's membership lists, and students selected were from local school lists. Follow-up surveys were sent to nonresponders at two-week intervals. RESULTS. The physicians and medical students did not drink especially heavily and were no more vulnerable to alcoholism than were their counterparts in pharmacy and other professions. Physicians differed from pharmacists in their style of drinking (greater frequency, smaller quantity), but not in total amount of alcohol consumed. Drinking habits among physicians were not associated with medical specialty or type of practice, but were positively related to gender (males drank more than females) and to age (older doctors were more apt to qualify as heavy drinkers than were younger doctors). CONCLUSIONS. Physicians were no more likely to abuse substances nonmedically than were other professionals. Any group in which alcohol use is nearly universal incurs a risk of abuse and impairment that cannot be ignored.

Full text

PDF
178

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. A'Brook M. F., Hailstone J. D., McLaughlan I. E. Psychiatric illness in the medical profession. Br J Psychiatry. 1967 Sep;113(502):1013–1023. doi: 10.1192/bjp.113.502.1013. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Berk M. L. Interviewing physicians: the effect of improved response rate. Am J Public Health. 1985 Nov;75(11):1338–1340. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.11.1338. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Brewster J. M. Prevalence of alcohol and other drug problems among physicians. JAMA. 1986 Apr 11;255(14):1913–1920. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Burgess A. M., Jr, Tierney J. T. Bias due to nonresponse in a mail survey of Rhode Island physicians' smoking habits--1968. N Engl J Med. 1970 Apr 16;282(16):908–908. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197004162821607. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Clark D. C., Daugherty S. R. A norm-referenced longitudinal study of medical student drinking patterns. J Subst Abuse. 1990;2(1):15–37. doi: 10.1016/s0899-3289(05)80043-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Cleary P. D., Angel R. The analysis of relationships involving dichotomous dependent variables. J Health Soc Behav. 1984 Sep;25(3):334–348. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coe R. M., Miller D. K., Wolff M., Prendergast J. M., Pepper M. Attitudes and health promoting behavior of medical and law students. Am J Public Health. 1982 Jul;72(7):725–727. doi: 10.2105/ajph.72.7.725. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Conard S., Hughes P., Baldwin D. C., Jr, Achenbach K. E., Sheehan D. V. Substance use by fourth-year students at 13 U.S. medical schools. J Med Educ. 1988 Oct;63(10):747–758. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198810000-00002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. DICKINSON F. G., MARTIN L. W. Physician mortality, 1949-1951. J Am Med Assoc. 1956 Dec 15;162(16):1462–1468. doi: 10.1001/jama.1956.72970330004008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Engs R. C. Drinking patterns and attitudes toward alcoholism of Australian human-service students. J Stud Alcohol. 1982 May;43(5):517–531. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1982.43.517. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Everson R. B., Fraumeni J. F., Jr Mortality among medical students and young physicians. J Med Educ. 1975 Aug;50(8):809–811. doi: 10.1097/00001888-197508000-00009. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fillmore K. M. Prevalence, incidence and chronicity of drinking patterns and problems among men as a function of age: a longitudinal and cohort analysis. Br J Addict. 1987 Jan;82(1):77–83. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1987.tb01440.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Forney M. A., Ripley W. K., Forney P. D. A profile and prediction study of problem drinking among first-year medical students. Int J Addict. 1988 Jul;23(7):767–779. doi: 10.3109/10826088809058838. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Franklin R. A. One hundred doctors at The Retreat. A contribution to the subject of mental disorder in the medical profession. Br J Psychiatry. 1977 Jul;131:11–14. doi: 10.1192/bjp.131.1.11. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Herzog D. B., Borus J. F., Hamburg P., Ott I. L., Concus A. Substance use, eating behaviors, and social impairment of medical students. J Med Educ. 1987 Aug;62(8):651–657. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198708000-00005. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hilton M. E. A comparison of a prospective diary and two summary recall techniques for recording alcohol consumption. Br J Addict. 1989 Sep;84(9):1085–1092. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb00792.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Jones R. E. A study of 100 physician psychiatric inpatients. Am J Psychiatry. 1977 Oct;134(10):1119–1123. doi: 10.1176/ajp.134.10.1119. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Juntunen J., Asp S., Olkinuora M., Aärimaa M., Strid L., Kauttu K. Doctors' drinking habits and consumption of alcohol. BMJ. 1988 Oct 15;297(6654):951–954. doi: 10.1136/bmj.297.6654.951. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Krakowski A. J. Stress and the practice of medicine. II. Stressors, stresses, and strains. Psychother Psychosom. 1982;38(1):11–23. doi: 10.1159/000287609. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Krakowski A. J. Stress and the practice of medicine. III. Physicians compared with lawyers. Psychother Psychosom. 1984;42(1-4):143–151. doi: 10.1159/000287838. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Lewis D. C. Doctors and drugs. N Engl J Med. 1986 Sep 25;315(13):826–828. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198609253151309. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. McAuliffe W. E., Rohman M., Santangelo S., Feldman B., Magnuson E., Sobol A., Weissman J. Psychoactive drug use among practicing physicians and medical students. N Engl J Med. 1986 Sep 25;315(13):805–810. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198609253151305. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. McAuliffe W. E., Rohman M., Wechsler H. Alcohol, substance use, and other risk-factors of impairment in a sample of physicians-in-training. Adv Alcohol Subst Abuse. 1984 Winter;4(2):67–87. doi: 10.1300/J251v04n02_07. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. McCracken B. E. Partnerships for the future in preventive health care (turn around, look at us). J Fla Med Assoc. 1980 Sep;67(9):817–825. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Midanik L. T. Perspectives on the validity of self-reported alcohol use. Br J Addict. 1989 Dec;84(12):1419–1423. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1989.tb03920.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Midanik L. The validity of self-reported alcohol consumption and alcohol problems: a literature review. Br J Addict. 1982 Dec;77(4):357–382. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1982.tb02469.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Moore R. D., Mead L., Pearson T. A. Youthful precursors of alcohol abuse in physicians. Am J Med. 1990 Apr;88(4):332–336. doi: 10.1016/0002-9343(90)90485-v. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Murray R. M. Psychiatric illness in male doctors and controls: an analysis of Scottish hospitals in-patient data. Br J Psychiatry. 1977 Jul;131:1–10. doi: 10.1192/bjp.131.1.1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Myers T., Weiss E. Substance use by internes and residents: an analysis of personal, social and professional differences. Br J Addict. 1987 Oct;82(10):1091–1099. doi: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1987.tb03289.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Niven R. G., Hurt R. D., Morse R. M., Swenson W. M. Alcoholism in physicians. Mayo Clin Proc. 1984 Jan;59(1):12–16. doi: 10.1016/s0025-6196(12)60335-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Rawnsley K. Alcoholic doctors. Alcohol Alcohol. 1984;19(3):257–259. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Sanchez-Craig M., Israel Y. Pattern of alcohol use associated with self-identified problem drinking. Am J Public Health. 1985 Feb;75(2):178–180. doi: 10.2105/ajph.75.2.178. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Schwartz R. H., Lewis D. C., Hoffmann N. G., Kyriazi N. Cocaine and marijuana use by medical students before and during medical school. Arch Intern Med. 1990 Apr;150(4):883–886. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Small I. F., Small J. G., Assue C. M., Moore D. F. The fate of the mentally ill physician. Am J Psychiatry. 1969 Apr;125(10):1333–1342. doi: 10.1176/ajp.125.10.1333. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Stimmel B. Alcoholism and drug abuse in the affluent: is there a difference? Adv Alcohol Subst Abuse. 1984 Winter;4(2):1–10. doi: 10.1300/J251v04n02_01. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Vaillant G. E., Brighton J. R., McArthur C. Physicians' use of mood-altering drugs. A 20-year follow-up report. N Engl J Med. 1970 Feb 12;282(7):365–370. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197002122820705. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Vincent M. O., Robinson E. A., Latt L. Physicians as patients: private psychiatric hospital experience. Can Med Assoc J. 1969 Mar 1;100(9):403–412. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Westermeyer J. Substance abuse among medical trainees: current problems and evolving resources. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 1988;14(3):393–404. doi: 10.3109/00952998809001559. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Wyshak G., Lamb G. A., Lawrence R. S., Curran W. J. A profile of the health-promoting behaviors of physicians and lawyers. N Engl J Med. 1980 Jul 10;303(2):104–107. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198007103030210. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from American Journal of Public Health are provided here courtesy of American Public Health Association

RESOURCES