Increased personal medication use among Finnish physicians from 1986 to 1997.

This study was based on a nationwide survey of 2671 Finnish physicians in 1986 and 3313 in 1997. The results showed that the proportion of physicians who often or regularly reported using any medication increased significantly from 1986 to 1997 (men 27.8% versus 44.3%, P = 0.001; women 28.8% versus 48.6%, P = 0.001). Among the general practitioners working in the public sector, the increase was from 31.2% to 49.3%. Gastrointestinal diseases (74%), asthma (63%) and mental disorders (62%) were the most commonly self-medicated conditions in 1997.