Toronto study of 958,150 inpatients: 30-day mortality 12.3% with female vs 13.7% with male physicians
In 958,150 hospitalized patients, care by female physicians was associated with lower 30-day mortality, according to a University of Toronto study in JAMA Network Open.
Hospitalized patients cared for by female physicians were less likely to die or be readmitted than those treated by male physicians, according to a study published online Oct. 30 in JAMA Network Open and reported by endocrinologyadvisor.com. endocrinologyadvisor.com
endocrinologyadvisor.comendocrinologyadvisor.comOpen source ↗ Angela Jerath, M.D., from the University of Toronto, and colleagues compared outcomes by physician sex among hospitalized medical patients admitted with seven common diagnoses.
Study population and design
The analysis included 958,150 patients admitted between 2008 and 2022. Of these, 259,759 were treated by female physicians and 698,391 by male physicians. The results were adjusted for patient-, physician-, and hospital-level factors.
Jerath noted that, unlike surgical care, patients admitted to hospital for medical conditions are generally assigned physicians based on rotating schedules rather than patient or referring physician preferences. According to her, this helps minimize referral bias.
Mortality and readmission results
After adjustment, care by female physicians was associated with lower 30-day mortality: 12.3 versus 13.7 percent (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.88; 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.85 to 0.91). endocrinologyadvisor.com
endocrinologyadvisor.comendocrinologyadvisor.comOpen source ↗ Hospital readmission showed a trend toward being lower: 18.6 versus 18.9 percent (aOR, 0.98; 95 percent CI, 0.97 to 1.00).
In a second analysis, physician sex was defined by the proportion of in-hospital days managed by a female physician, per 10 percent increment, rather than by the binary sex of the most responsible physician. Greater exposure to care by a female physician was again associated with lower 30-day mortality (aOR, 0.93; 95 percent CI, 0.90 to 0.97) and lower readmission (aOR, 0.99; 95 percent CI, 0.98 to 0.99).
"The goal is not to favor one group of physicians over another but to identify practices and behaviors that may help improve care across the health system," Jerath said in a statement.
