Resident Physician Preventive Health Behaviors and Perspectives on Primary Care

摘要

Little is known about lifestyle choices and preventivehealthcare seeking behaviors among resident physicians.Residents function under unusual working conditionsrequiring extensive duty hours. This may significantlyaffect attentiveness to personal health and wellness. Inthis study, we surveyed residents across multiple trainingprograms to compare lifestyle choices and access topreventive healthcare.METHODS: Resident physicians affiliated with BrownUniversity, Providence, Rhode Island, were surveyed betweenFebruary and April 2009 regarding lifestyle habitsand experiences with primary care. We evaluated therelationships between training program and establishedprimary care on health behaviors.RESULTS: Residents were in one of 5 programs: internalmedicine, medicine/pediatrics, emergency medicine,surgery or pediatrics. Respondents slept an average of6.7 hours per day and worked an average of 70 hours perweek, with surgical residents sleeping the shortest andworking the longest hours (p<0.001 for both). An averageof 58.8% of residents indicated having a primarycare physician. This rate was lowest among surgery residentsat 37% (p=0.081). Rates of screening with regardsto blood pressure, cholesterol and cervical cancer weresignificantly higher among residents maintaining primarycare (p<0.001). A lack of time was the most commonbarrier to obtaining primary care.DISCUSSION: Surgical residents may have unique barriersto healthcare seeking behaviors, such as longer work hours.Residents with established primary care had significantlyhigher rates of adherence to preventive screening. Residencyprograms should address barriers to accessing healthcarefor trainees, particularly among surgical programs.