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Alcohol consumption and drinking habits among Finnish doctors were studied as part of a survey of stress and burnout. A questionnaire containing 99 questions or groups of questions was sent to all 3496 practising doctors aged under 66 randomly selected from the registry of the Finnish Medical Association. Altogether 2671 doctors (76%) responded; this sample was representative of the Finnish medical profession. The average weekly consumption of alcohol during the past year and various aspects ofdrinking behaviour were assessed, and the presence or absence of symptoms and diseases often encountered among heavy drinkers and addicts was determined. The data were analysed separately for men and women, for those aged -40 and >40, and for the men with high and low alcohol consumption and with high and low scores on the index of drinking habits. Selected variables related to work, stress, and coping were correlated with alcohol consumption and drinking behaviour.The median consumption of alcohol among male doctors was 4876 g (6.2 litres) and among female doctors 2226 g (2.8 litres) of absolute alcohol per person per year and was higher in those aged over 40. Beer was most commonly drunk by men and wine by women. Increased alcohol consumption was associated with older age, disappointment with career, heavy smoking, use of benzodiazepines, stress and burnout symptoms, suicidal thoughts, general dissatisfaction, and diseases related to alcohol. Drinking habits were heavier among doctors working in community health centres, those taking long sick leaves, younger doctors disappointed with their careers or the atmosphere at work, and older doctors immersed in their work.Alcohol consumption among doctors seems to be higher than that ofthe general population in Finland, and heavy drinking seems to be associated with stress and burnout. this group, giving 3496 subjects. A questionnaire containing 99 questions or groups ofquestions was sent with a letter describing the aims of the study to all doctors selected to participate. Total anonymity was assured, and the questionnaires did not contain any questions or codes that could possibly identify the responder.Average weekly consumption of alcohol during the past year was assessed separately for beer, wine, and spirits. Each was scaled according to the number of bottles or glasses consumed, and these scales were transformed into grams of absolute alcohol. The amount of alcohol consumed does not, however, give a full picture of drinking behaviour: the manner in which alcohol is used is another important aspect. Scores for 12 questions measuring various aspects of drinking behaviour were summed for each subject to obtain an index of drinking habits (

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The incidence of cancer in 12 693 shipyard and machine shop male workers (1689 welders, 4308 platers, 6003 machinists, 693 pipe fitters) employed for at least one year between 1945 and 1960 was investigated in a retrospective cohort study. The welders had welded only mild steel and had not been exposed to hexavalent chromium containing fume. The follow up was 99-7% complete and the total number of person-years was 304 682. The incidence of cancer in 1953-81 was ascertained through the Finnish Cancer Registry. The observed numbers of cases of cancer were compared with the expected numbers based on regional urban rates. The smoking habits of the cohort were surveyed with a postal questionnaire sent to a sample of 961 workers. The smoking habits of the cohorts were similar and smoking was not more common than among the general population. The total number of cases of cancer was 611 (exp 629) among the shipyard workers and 376 (exp 388) among the machine shop workers. The incidence of lung cancer was increased among the shipyard workers (obs 227, exp 192). This excess was observed in all the worker groups and was most evident for the pipe fitters and platers. Among the machine shop workers, the incidence of lung cancer was lower than expected with the exception of the welders who had a slightly raised risk of lung cancer (obs 14, exp 10). The incidence of laryngeal cancer was slightly raised among the shipyard workers (obs 24, exp 20) but not in the machine shop workers. No excess risk was observed among the welders.

An 18-year follow-up for mortality and cancer morbidity was conducted in a cohort of 1,909 men who had started spraying chlorophenoxy herbicides (mixture of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid [2,4-D] and 2,4,5-trichlorophenoxyacetic acid [2,4,5-T]) in 1955 through 1971. In all, 384 persons had died during the follow-up, and there was a slight deficit in natural deaths (standardized mortality ratio [SMR] 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.75-0.94). By contrast, there was a small, nonsignificant increase in accidental and violent deaths. The overall cancer mortality was slightly less than in the general population (SMR 0.83; 95% CI 0.65-1.02), and not a single case of death of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) or soft tissue sarcomas (STS) was detected. With regard to cancer morbidity, the incident cases showed a slight deficit compared to the population figure (standardized incidence ratio [SIR] 0.81; 95% CI 0.67-0.97). One case of NHL was found (2.4 expected with 10 years of latency), but not a single case of STS (0.8 expected with 10 years of latency). While our study does not support the contention that spraying of 2,4-D and 2,4,5-T containing herbicides carries any significant risk of cancer, the medium to low statistical power of the study does not allow any far reaching negative conclusions regarding the carcinogenicity of the agents.