[Consumption of "performance-enhancing" products by general practitioners]

The aim of this work was to test the hypothesis that doctors consume products to help them in their professional practice. A telephone survey was conducted over a 12-month period among 402 general practitioners in France (using a 'quota method'). The 202 respondents consisted of 49 women and 153 men, with a mean age of 45.6 +/- 5.6 years. Nineteen percent of these respondents said that they had taken products to help with stress (11% had used benzodiazepines), 24% had used products to help with fatigue, 33% had used tobacco, and 20% said that they had experimented with cannabis. Finally, 44% of the respondents said that they had used products to 'hold out' during their studies--especially those presently taking products to assist with stress. Two questions must therefore be raised: (i) what is the impact of this addiction on the types of products prescribed by these doctors? and (ii) what steps are taken to prevent doctors from using such products and becoming addicted in the first place?