YOUNG DOCTORS HEALTH .2. HEALTH AND HEALTH BEHAVIOR

There is little published information on the health of young doctors, apart from a number of studies which show increased rates of psychiatr ic symptoms. Nor is there much known of their health behaviour. Anecdo tal accounts suggest that doctors' own health care is poor, especially in terms of their willingness to consult other doctors. This paper pr esents data from a longitudinal study of a class cohort of young docto rs first interviewed when they were students. Data show that they suff er from frequent minor physical ailments, with women reporting more ai lments than men. Despite this, they look less sick leave. Overall, the doctors took very little time off work. Using the GHQ-28, with a thre shold of 5/6, 30% of doctors fell into the ''caseness'' category for p sychiatric symptoms. This is in keeping with findings elsewhere. From the doctors' own reported health behaviour, both in terms of their res ponse to illness over the past year, as well as their predicted respon se to hypothetical illness, they have developed maladaptive patterns. These include continuing to So to work when unfit, self-prescribing, a nd consulting friends and colleagues rather than going for a formal co nsultation. This is seen as inappropriate, especially in cases of ment al illness. A third of the young doctors are not registered with a loc al general practitioner and the majority have no clear idea of the rol e of the Occupational Health Service. The results are discussed in ter ms of the need to change attitudes to health care and to develop guide lines, staffing and services to enable doctors to take better care of themselves. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.