Women are less likely to die when treated by female doctors, study suggests
Hospitalized women are less likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital if they are treated by female doctors, a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine found.
Hospitalized women are less likely to die or be readmitted to the hospital if they are treated by female doctors, a study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine found.
In the study of people ages 65 and older, 8.15% of women treated by female physicians died within 30 days, compared with 8.38% of women treated by male physicians.
Although the difference between the two groups seems small, the researchers say erasing the gap could save 5,000 women’s lives each year.
The study included nearly 800,000 male and female patients hospitalized from 2016 through 2019. All patients were covered by Medicare. For male hospitalized patients, the gender of the doctor didn’t appear to have an effect on risk of death or hospital readmission.
The data alone doesn’t explain why women fare better when treated by other women. But other studies suggest that women are less likely to experience “miscommunication, misunderstanding and bias” when treated by female doctors, said lead study author Dr. Atsushi Miyawaki, a senior assistant professor of health services research at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine.
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