Women have better survival rates and lower hospital readmission rates when treated by female physicians, a new study found.
The observational study published Tuesday in Annals of Internal Medicine found a contrast in mortality rates depending on the gender of the treating physician in the United States. Among women treated by female physicians, 8.15 per cent died within 30 days, while 8.38 per cent of those treated by male physicians met the same outcome.
The researchers found the same pattern for hospital readmission rates.
This difference may seem small, but lead author Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, an associate professor-in-residence of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said it is “clinically meaningful.”
“If you take the ratio, it’s about a three per cent difference, so a three per cent lower mortality and readmission rate when patients were treated by female physicians compared with patients who were treated by a male physician,” he told Global News.
“And if we put this into context, for mortality, for every two 420 hospitalizations, one fewer death will occur when female physicians provide care, as opposed to when male physicians treat patients. And given that more than four million hospitalizations for medical conditions happen every year in the U.S., this difference is pretty big if you take into account the population level.”
Although the data is from the U.S., Tsugawa believes that given the underlying practice differences between male and female physicians, these are generally applicable patterns that could be observed in various countries. He added that it is possible that similar patterns can be seen in other countries, such as Canada.
“What our findings indicate is that female and male physicians practise medicine differently, and these differences have a meaningful impact on patients’ health outcomes,” he said.
He added that patient outcomes should not differ between male and female physicians if they practise medicine the same way.
“And if we put this into context, for mortality, for every two 420 hospitalizations, one fewer death will occur when female physicians provide care, as opposed to when male physicians treat patients. And given that more than four million hospitalizations for medical conditions happen every year in the U.S., this difference is pretty big if you take into account the population level.”
Although the data is from the U.S., Tsugawa believes that given the underlying practice differences between male and female physicians, these are generally applicable patterns that could be observed in various countries. He added that it is possible that similar patterns can be seen in other countries, such as Canada.
“What our findings indicate is that female and male physicians practise medicine differently, and these differences have a meaningful impact on patients’ health outcomes,” he said.
He added that patient outcomes should not differ between male and female physicians if they practise medicine the same way.
To determine whether patients receive better care from female or male doctors, the researchers analyzed data from health insurance claims from 2016 to 2019 across the U.S.
The study focused on more than 770,000 patients hospitalized for medical conditions, all aged 65 and above. Of those, 142,500 females and 97,500 males (roughly 31 per cent) were treated by female doctors.
The primary outcomes were 30-day mortality from the date of hospital admission and 30-day readmission from the date of discharge.
“We found that patients treated by female physicians experienced lower mortality and readmission rates than those who were cared for by male physicians,” Tsugawa said. “And the benefit of receiving treatment from female physicians was greater for female patients than for male patients.”
The observed differences in mortality among female patients were particularly notable among those who were severely ill, the study found.
Together, these findings suggest that treatment by female physicians may benefit female patients (especially severely ill female patients) more than male patients, the researchers concluded.
Why is this happening?
Sex disparities in health-care quality and hospital outcomes are well-documented, Tsugawa said.
Past studies have found that female patients often receive less intensive care and procedures, encounter delayed diagnoses more frequently, and report more negative experiences compared with male patients, said.
