Health maintenance activities of physicians and nonphysicians.
Studying the health maintenance attitudes and behaviors of physicians (MDs) as patients provides information about health maintenance care in a group of individuals where preventive care might flourish. The present study reports the results of a survey of such attitudes and behaviors among 144 university-based MDs and 283 nonphysician doctoral faculty members (non-MDs) from two area universities regarding their personal health maintenance care in 1983. Respondents who reported having a personal MD (44% MDs, 74% non-MDs) were twice as likely to believe they should visit a physician regularly for health maintenance and three times as likely to actually visit a physician for health maintenance as those respondents without a personal physician. Both MDs and non-MDs described the need to visit the doctor more often than they actually reported doing so for health maintenance. However, MDs more often than non-MDs reported receiving the particular health maintenance procedures that are generally considered to constitute essential health maintenance care. A better understanding of health maintenance care by MDs and their non-MD colleagues provides insights into the use and misuse of clinical procedures in the asymptomatic adult.
Kahn
K L
KL
Division of General Internal Medicine, UCLA School of Medicine 90024.
Goldberg
R J
RJ
DeCosimo
D
D
Dalen
J E
JE
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005178:Faculty / Q000523:psychology*; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010808:Physical Examination; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology*; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology