February 21, 2012
A new study, conducted by the University of Washington in Seattle and published in this month’s issue of the Archives of Surgery, has found that a disproportionate number of surgeons suffer from drinking problems. An article released by MSN-Health states that the survey reported 15% of surgeons said they suffer from alcohol abuse or dependence.
This means that 14% of male and 26% of female surgeons suffer from some level of alcoholism.
The study examined 7,197 results from an anonymous online poll. Of these, 1,112 subjects’ answers were consistent with those of someone with alcohol abuse problems.
Results also showed that a surgeon who is burned out, depressed, or who had made a medical mistake in the past three months was more likely to have an alcohol related problem.
The figures are three to seven percent higher than the public average for alcohol abuse or dependence.
Doctors who reviewed the results of the study cited that a lower than average response rate of 29%, versus the accepted rate of 60%, could be at fault for skewing the numbers; however, experts also say that the low response rate could mean the problem is larger than imagined.
The Dallas Medical Malpractice Attorneys with Ferrer Poirot Feller Daniel know that surgeons are not required to undergo any kind of drug testing prior to employment and that requiring them to do so could reduce the risk of medical mistakes happening in Texas.