Cigarette Smoking by Rhode Island Physicians, 1963-1973: Comparison with Lawyers and other Adult Males.

The smoking habits of physicians have been a popular subject for study in this country and abroad for the last couple of decades largely because of the presumed potential influence of the doctor's precept and example on patient behavior. Nearly all studies have shown a tendency for the physician to smoke less than the general population and, despite a frequent lack of comparability of method, the rate of cigarette use among doctors is found to be falling and the fall is sustained. This communication reports the cigarette smoking status of the physicians of Rhode Island, exploring the changes since 1963 and 1968. using questions designed for comparability with these two earlier reports. Surveys have tended to show strong relationships of socioeconomic status and education to cigarette smoking. Professionals, persons with post-graduate university education, and members of high-income families have all tended to show rates of smoking substantially below those for the population as a whole, at least among males.