Hidden Risk: Clinician Substance Use - Takeaways - MDSpire

Hidden Risk: Clinician Substance Use

Longitudinal Swedish study finds physicians and nurses reporting problem drinking or illicit drug use had about twice the risk of rating their care as poor 1 year later

  • By

  • Kerri Miller

  • March 5, 2026

  • 4 min

Share

  • 1

    A longitudinal study in Sweden found that healthcare workers with substance use issues rated their care quality as poor one year later.

  • 2

    3.8% of participants met criteria for problem drinking, while 1.3% reported illicit drug use, with variations between physicians and nurses.

  • 3

    At follow-up, 15.9% of all participants rated their care quality as poor, increasing to 28.9% among those with illicit drug use.

  • 4

    Self-reported substance use was associated with poor care quality, highlighting the need for nonpunitive support systems in healthcare.

  • 5

    The study's limitations include potential underreporting of substance use and modest response rates, affecting generalizability.

Original Source(s)

Hidden Risk: Clinician Substance Use

  • by Kerri Miller

  • March 5, 2026

Related Content

Toward Participatory Precision Health With Co-Designed Recommendations: Systematic Review of Just-in-Time Adaptive Interventions in Adolescents and Young Adults

Psychological inflexibility and resilience in anxiety: insights from machine-learning and robust mediation-based models

Top 10 States With Rising Demand for Physicians

These 10 states report physician shortages, projected physician supply gaps, or physician-to-population ratios below national benchmarks.