Concern of Doctors about their own Healthcare

Abstract

Background & Objective: Doctors work long hours under stressful conditions and seem to have sedentary, unhealthy lifestyle. Recently, an increased incidence of sudden mortality among doctors was observed in our community. This study was aimed to access the attitude and practice of doctors regarding their own health care. Methods: A cross-sectional study using non-probability convenient sampling was conducted among 150 practicing doctors in Faisalabad. After getting ethical approval, a pre-tested validated questionnaire was used for data collection in May 2019. Results were analyzed using SPSS 25. Results: Only 35(23.6%) subjects met recommended criteria of exercising at least 5 days a week. Majority, 116(77.3%), failed to get optimal sleep of 7-9 hours per day. 111 (75.5%) subjects said that they get themselves regularly investigated in recommended time. Major barrier in assessing regular health services was limited time availability (56%) followed by self-medication 37(25.2%), medical knowledge 16(10.9%) and embarrassment 7(4.8%). 134(89.3%) did self-medication. Doctors who thought they spend enough time with their family were less stressed during duty as compared to those who thought they didn’t spend enough family time. Doctors were unaware about job details regarding vacations, employee and family healthcare as provided in other organizations. 132(89.2%) were not being provided annual health checkups by employers. Conclusion: Study concluded that doctors are not leading healthy life. Neither doctors themselves put effort to maintain their own health nor do their employers adopt standard health practices for them. More research should be done to understand the situation better and seek out reliable solutions.