Study finds many M.D.s drink when on
call
While most doctors
say they're against drinking any alcohol while on call, nearly
one-quarter of the 135 doctors surveyed in a recent study from
Hamilton
County
,
Tenn.
, admitted to
drinking alcohol while on call. 64% reported having encountered
colleagues they suspected had used alcohol while on call, and 27%
reported having encountered colleagues they believed were impaired by
alcohol while on call.
The study was
conducted by Jimmy Wallace, a graduate student in public health at The
University of North Carolina at
Chapel
Hill
. The results were
reported in BMJ, a professional journal formerly called the
British Medical Journal.
"I think the subject
of this study has not been an issue that's been discussed previously.
That, in itself, is surprising," said Peterman. "There is no standard
rule about what is acceptable (for doctors drinking alcohol while on
call), so people then make up their own rules -- and there are no
rules then for medical students on this. There is ambiguity in
doctors' minds as to whether on-call time is private time or work
time. That's, in a way, the question that needs to be brought out in
people's minds, so a decision can be made on it."
The researchers
developed a survey with 10 questions to probe doctors' perceptions
about their own and their colleagues' use of alcohol while on call. Of
the 206 surveys sent, 135 (65%) responses were returned.
14% of the
respondents felt that social drinking while on call was acceptable,
and one-fourth thought that in their specialty, some alcohol use is
safe. 24% reported consuming alcohol while on call, but only half of
those doctors responded that they report their alcohol use to the
patients they treat during that time.
In response to
asking how many drinks a doctor in their specialty could safely drink
while on call, 73% answered zero, 9% answered one, 4% replied two, 5%
said three, and 13% answered four or more.
Almost all doctors
(98%) believed that patients care whether they use alcohol while on
call, but doctors were divided about their obligation to inform
patients before seeing them.
"Although almost all
doctors think that patients care whether they use alcohol while on
call, there is substantial disagreement about the use of alcohol while
on call, and the doctors' obligation to inform their patients," stated
Peterman.
"More data needs to
be obtained about these issues, and the medical profession and society
need to discuss the balance between personal freedom and professional
obligation to patients. Medical societies need to include stronger
declarations about drinking alcohol while on call in their ethical
codes, before the issue is decided for them. There are clear rules and
regulations about alcohol use in the aeronautical industry, so there
should be in the medical profession too."
SOURCE:
"Doctors' perceptions of drinking alcohol while on call: questionnaire
survey," by Tahir Ahmad, Jimmy Wallace, et al, BMJ,
Sept. 14, 2003
.
|
