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A Study of Physicians' Health Habits and Counseling Practices

Kenneth B. Wells, MD, MPH; Charles E. Lewis, MD, ScD; Barbara Leake, PhD; John E. Ware, Jr, PhD

JAMA. 1984;252(20):2846-2848.

Abstract
We examined the relation of physicians' clinical specialty, personal health habits, and health-related beliefs to their practices in counseling about smoking, weight, exercise, and alcohol. We surveyed a random sample of members of a county medical society in selected specialties. Physicians with better personal health habits and more positive attitudes toward counseling counsel a broader range of patients and counsel more aggressively. Surgeons counsel less than nonsurgeons, even after controlling for differences in health-related attitudes and personal habits.

(JAMA 1984;252:2846-2848)

Author Affiliations
From The Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, Calif (Drs Wells and Ware); and the Neuropsychiatric Institute (Dr Wells) and the Department of Medicine (Dr Lewis), School of Medicine, and the School of Public Health (Dr Leake), UCLA, Los Angeles.

Footnotes
The opinions, conclusions, and proposals in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Reprint requests to The Rand Corporation, 1700 Main St, Santa Monica, CA 90406 (Dr Wells).

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