Life expectancy of Thai physicians during 1998-2002.

Previous report suggested early age at death of Thai physicians; the estimate however was not a comparable measurement with general Thai population. This information created a concern on the health status of Thai population. This study was therefore aimed to calculate life expectancy of Thai physicians and to compare with Thai population. Information on year of birth of all registered physicians and year of death of physicians who died during 1998-2002 was retrieved from the database of the Thai Medical Council and the Centre for Continuing Medical Education of Thailand. Age-specific mortality rates were computed for ages of 23-24, 25-29, and then 5-year intervals until 70 years or more. These age-specific mortality rates were used for calculation of life expectancy by using the method of abridged life table. During the year 1998-2002, there were 655 deaths among 25,501 Thai physicians. According to life table calculation, life expectancy at age 23 for Thai physicians was 63.5 years or they could live until age of 86.5 years when they started their career and those figures for Thai general population were 53.2 and 76.2 respectively. The differences between these two populations were declined in older age groups. Increased life expectancy among physicians compared to general population was also reported in other countries. A longer life span of physicians might be a result of higher socioeconomic status and low prevalence of health risk behavior.