Smoking behavior of Dutch family physicians in 1983-1988

General practitioners' smoking behaviour in The Netherlands is described on the basis of survey data collected in the period 1983-1988. Until 1983 a large majority of the Dutch family physicians were smokers (1957: 82%, 1983: 56%). The smoking prevalence then was higher among physicians than among the male population. After 1983 a new development set in. Three inquiries showed that among Dutch physicians the smoking prevalence in 1988 was lower than that among the male general population (29 versus 37%). Dutch family physicians have stopped smoking to a larger extent than the physicians in any other EC-country (43% ex-smokers). Young entry-level doctors more and more tend to be never-smokers.