A new study by a team of researchers from the US and Japan observed that Patients treated by a female physician are less likely to die or to be readmitted to a hospital than those treated by a male physician.

The difference is even more noticeable if the patient happens also to be female, especially so when they're severely ill.

While this study doesn't dive deeply into the reasons for such differences, it supports previous research that comes to similar conclusions.

The team analyzed data from US Medicare sources describing 458,108 female and 318,819 male patients hospitalized between 2016 and 2019. All patients were over the age of 65, and just under a third of both male and female patients were seen by female physicians.

This information was then referenced against 30-day mortality rates (from the date of admission) and 30-day readmission rates (from the date of discharge). In both cases, female doctors led to better outcomes.

While the differences don't show direct cause and effect, and weren't huge – adjusted mortality rates of 8.15 percent (female doctor) vs 8.38 percent (male doctor) for female patients, for example – they represent a statistically significant gap that shouldn't be there at all. To put that difference into perspective, it amounts to 1 death for every 417 hospitalizations.

"A better understanding of this topic could lead to the development of interventions that effectively improve patient care," says Tsugawa.

"It is worthy to note that female physicians provide high-quality care, and therefore, having more female physicians benefits patients from a societal point-of-view."

The study authors suggest several reasons could be behind the disparities, which have been observed before in different medical situations. It's possible that female doctors communicate better with female patients, the researchers say, or that male doctors are more likely to underestimate the severity of conditions experienced by female patients.

There might also be less embarrassment and discomfort between female doctors and female patients, the research team suggests, meaning more honesty about certain conditions and improved diagnosis and treatment.

The researchers want to see more done to improve sex diversity in hospital settings, and to make sure the quality of care is the same irrespective of the gender of both patients or physicians – and for that to happen, more studies will be needed looking at why such differences exist.

"Further research on the underlying mechanisms linking physician gender with patient outcomes, and why the benefit of receiving the treatment from female physicians is larger for female patients, has the potential to improve patient outcomes across the board," says Tsugawa.

The research has been published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Reference:

1. Atsushi Miyawaki, Anupam B. Jena, Lisa S. Rotenstein, et al. Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex. Ann Intern Med. [Epub 23 April 2024]. doi:10.7326/M23-3163

(Input from various media sources)

(Rehash/Priyanka Pandey/MSM)