Background: A Finnish national survey in 2002 revealed that Finnish physicians often feel that working in a primary heath care centre is isolated work.
Aims: To determine the factors related to perceived isolation in health centre work among general practitioners (GP) working in health centres.
Methods: A postal questionnaire study of physicians (N = 1829) working in primary health care centres.
Results: The majority of GPs (67%) agreed that 'working in a health centre is too often isolated work'. Physicians felt isolated most often when working in the largest health centres (>20 posts), whereas physicians working in health centres with 3-10 posts perceived isolation least often. Difficulty in collaboration with partners or the managerial team was associated with this feeling.
Conclusions: Feelings of isolation are common among Finnish health centre physicians, but increasing the size of primary health care units may not prevent these feelings.