Study Finds Treatment by Female Doctors Leads to Lower Mortality Rates – National

Women have better survival rates and lower readmission rates when treated with: female doctora new study found.

The observational study, published Tuesday, Annual report of internal medicine found that mortality rates differed depending on the gender of the attending physician in the United States. Among women treated by female doctors, 8.15% died within 30 days, compared to 8.38% of women treated by male doctors.

Researchers found the same pattern for readmission rates.

While this difference may seem small, lead author Yusuke Tsugawa, Ph.D., associate professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said it is “clinically meaningful.”

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“In terms of proportions, the difference is about 3 percentage points, which means that patients treated by female physicians have 3 percentage points lower mortality and readmission rates compared to patients treated by male physicians. ” he told Global News.

“And to put this into context, for every 2 420 hospitalizations, there is one fewer death when a female doctor provides care than when a male doctor treats the patient. Considering that more than 4 million people are hospitalized each year due to medical conditions, this difference is quite large considering the population level.

Although the data are from the United States, Tsugawa believes these are generally applicable patterns that can be observed in different countries, given the fundamental practice differences between male and female doctors. ing. He added that similar patterns could be seen in other countries, such as Canada.

“Our findings show that female and male physicians practice medicine differently, and these differences have a significant impact on patient health outcomes,” he said. Ta.

He added that if male and female doctors practice medicine in the same way, there should be no difference in patient outcomes.

To determine whether patients received better care from female or male doctors, researchers analyzed health insurance claims data from 2016 to 2019 across the United States.

The study focused on more than 770,000 patients (all over the age of 65) who were hospitalized for their medical conditions. Of these, 142,500 women and 97,500 men (about 31%) were treated by female doctors.

The primary outcomes were mortality within 30 days of admission and readmission within 30 days of discharge.

“We found that patients treated by female doctors had lower mortality and readmission rates than patients treated by male doctors,” Professor Tsugawa said. “And the benefit of being treated by a female doctor was greater for female patients than for male patients.”

The difference in mortality observed among female patients was particularly pronounced among critically ill patients, the study found.

Taken together, the researchers concluded that female patients (particularly those with severe disease) may benefit more from treatment by female physicians than male patients.

Tsugawa said gender differences in quality of care and hospital outcomes are well documented.

Previous studies have found that female patients receive fewer intensive care and procedures, are more likely to be diagnosed later, and report more negative experiences than male patients.

for example, 2018 study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences We found that gender matters when it comes to heart attack survival. The study found that women were more likely to survive a heart attack if they were treated by a female doctor.

Research published in JAMA Surgery Year 2021 They found that female patients had fewer complications if the surgeon was female. In another study published in JAMA surgery in 2023, found that both male and female patients had fewer complications and shorter hospital stays when operated by female surgeons. The study said the results showed that female surgeons had better outcomes and performed surgeries slower than male surgeons.

Research shows that female patients are more likely to have their concerns ignored; experience discriminationand its pain and cardiovascular symptoms. may be underestimatedThe researchers of Research in the Annual Report of Internal Medicine Said.

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A study published in 2018 found that Canadian Journal of Cardiology They reported that male physicians were more likely than female physicians to underestimate women's stroke risk.

“Underestimation of symptoms and risks in female patients can lead to delayed or incomplete treatment, which may ultimately lead to poorer patient outcomes,” Annals of Internal Medicine says. researchers said.

“These problems may be exacerbated by the limited opportunities for structured medical training in women's health in the general medical curriculum.”

Tsugawa's team said they were not surprised by his findings because of previous research on the topic.

“Previous research has found that female physicians, on average, tend to adhere to clinical guidelines and spend more time listening to patients. And we find that these factors contribute to better clinical outcomes. “It can lead to,” he said.

According to Tsugawa, female patients may receive better treatment results because they feel more comfortable discussing private or culturally sensitive medical issues with female doctors.

Given these findings, he emphasized the need for further research to better understand the different patient outcomes associated with gender and healthcare.

“One of the things the health care system has to do is get better trained doctors to understand what women's health and women-specific health are in order to provide better care for women patients. '' Tsugawa said.

“We need to ensure that all physicians are able to provide quality care, regardless of the gender of the patient.”

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