[Attitude of students to physician's health behavior--an analysis of attitudes and behavior]

A total of 419 students in the first half of their curriculum (243 medical students, 39 engineering students, 36 sociology students and 101 law students) replied to a self-administered questionnaire during autumn 1988 and spring 1989. The questionnaire was concerned with health and included, among other things, their attitudes to doctors' health behaviour. The objects of the questionnaire were 1) to reveal the number of restrictive students who consider that doctors should show a good example as regards health behaviour e.g. as regards smoking, alcohol consumption, diet and physical exercise), 2) to characterize the social profiles of the restrictive students, 3) to assess whether the attitudes and behaviour are in agreement and 4) to assess whether the proportion of restrictive medical students differs from the other students. The result of the questionnaire reveals that 44.4% of all the students were restrictive. The social profiles of these students showed a slight difference from those of the non-restrictive students but only as regards variables related to health behaviour. No difference was found in the degree of restrictiveness in medical students and the remaining students. In addition, the investigation revealed that there was only a slight association between attitudes to doctors' health behaviour and their own health behaviour.