Key Findings

When women are treated by female doctors they are 0.23% less likely to die compared to if they are treated by doctors who are males.
Among women admitted with surgical problems, another study observed that being treated by female surgeons was associated with fewer complications and shorter hospital stays.
The authors attributed the observed findings to the variations between male and female doctors including patient care, communication, and sensitivity.
Women treated by female doctors reportedly felt better understood and taken care of than those who were treated by male doctors.

“Can the skill of a doctor alone explain the outcomes of patients treated by that doctor or is a subtle and often overlooked factor like the doctor’s sex also contributory?” This is the question that Dr. Atsushi Miyawaki and his colleagues at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine aimed to answer in their paper titled “Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex.”

Female Patients Record Fewer Mortalities When Treated By Female Doctors

The study which is published in the journal, Annals of Internal Medicine, uncovered a statistically significant relationship between the sex of the doctor and the survival of the patient if the patient was a female. The researchers reported that among female patients the mortality rates were 8.15% vs. 8.38% if they were treated by male vs. female doctors.

This means that a woman is less likely to die if she is treated by a doctor who is also a woman than if she is treated by a doctor who is a man.

How Was This Study Conducted?

This study used a retrospective design. This means that the researchers obtained data from a database containing the details of patients within a time range. The Medicare claims data was used for this study. Hence all the patients included in the study were 65 years and above. A total of 800,000 male and female patients who were hospitalized from 2016 to 2019 were used for this study. The major outcomes the researchers measured were the probability of death within 30 days of admission and the risk of admission. These were adjusted to account for the characteristics of doctors and patients as well as the average level of exposure to hazardous agents within the hospital.

Why Are Mortality Rates Among Women Treated by Female Doctors Lower?

Although the data obtained from the study do not explain the reason for the study’s findings, previously, studies have shown that there was a lower chance that a woman who is being treated by a female doctor would report issues with communication, understanding, or bias when relating with her doctor.

The scientists themselves also had a few things to say in this regard. Dr. Miyawaki highlighted the fact that during their days as students, many doctors did not get enough training in issues related to women. This often reflects in their practice as physicians and is worse for male doctors who unlike female doctors have limited knowledge of the female gender to work with.

In addition, due to gender differences, a female patient may not be as forthcoming with information about her illness to a male doctor as she would if the doctor was a female. This could affect the diagnosis and treatment of the patient and invariably affect that patient’s outcome.

Women Hospitalized for Surgical Diseases Spend Less Time in the Hospital and Report Fewer Complications when their Surgeon is a Female

A study that was published in 2023 in JAMA Surgery observed that generally, patients (both male and female) who are treated by female doctors tend to experience fewer complications and stay for a shorter duration in the hospital following surgery.

The study was conducted among 150,509 patients who were operated on by 2553 surgeons in Sweden between January 1, 2006, and December 31, 2019.

The study’s authors attributed the observed differences to the level of care and meticulousity of the surgeon involved in the study. They observed that female surgeons care more for their patients than male doctors. Furthermore, when they considered the duration spent during each surgery, they reported that female surgeons spent longer in the operating theatre than male surgeons. This could be translated to the fact that female surgeons were more meticulous and thorough during surgery than male surgeons who would rather finish up quickly than take their time in the theatre.

FAQs

Do male patients also have better outcomes when treated by male doctors?
In their study, Dr. Miyawaki and his colleagues observed that male patients did not report better outcomes when treated by male doctors. This implies that their result did not apply to the male patients involved in the study (Atsushi Miyawaki et al., 2024).

Are there specific medical specialties where female doctors outperform male doctors in terms of patient outcomes?
Yes, research suggests that female doctors tend to achieve better patient outcomes in certain medical specialties, particularly in fields where communication, meticulousness, and patient-centered care play a significant role. These specialties include internal medicine, surgery, cardiology, obstetrics and gynecology, etc (Christen et al., 2008).

Are female doctors more likely to practice evidence-based medicine than male doctors?
Tsugawa et al. (2017) have recorded differences in practice patterns between male and female physicians, with female physicians more likely to adhere to clinical guidelines and evidence-based practice.

What Do These Findings Mean?

No doubt these studies have answered a very crucial question in medicine today: the doctor-patient relationship and the role gender plays in it. Considering the factors that may account for the findings of both studies, they highlight the need for the incorporation of more women-related topics in the medical curriculum to better equip students especially male students on how they should handle their female patients when they eventually become doctors.

References

Atsushi Miyawaki, Jena, A. B., Rotenstein, L. S., & Tsugawa, Y. (2024). Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex. Annals of Internal Medicine, 177(5). https://doi.org/10.7326/m23-3163

Blohm, M., Sandblom, G., Enochsson, L., & Österberg, J. (2023). Differences in Cholecystectomy Outcomes and Operating Time Between Male and Female Surgeons in Sweden. JAMA Surgery. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2023.3736

Christen, R. N., Alder, J., & Bitzer, J. (2008). Gender differences in physicians’ communicative skills and their influence on patient satisfaction in gynaecological outpatient consultations. Social Science & Medicine (1982), 66(7), 1474–1483. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2007.12.011

Tsugawa, Y., Jena, A. B., Figueroa, J. F., Orav, E. J., Blumenthal, D. M., & Jha, A. K. (2017). Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates for Medicare Patients Treated by Male vs Female Physicians. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(2), 206. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.7875

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