A matter of life and death: physician gender and patient outcomes after surgery

Gianni R Lorello; Alana M Flexman

doi:10.1016/j.bja.2024.06.002

A matter of life and death: physician gender and patient outcomes after surgery

Br J Anaesth. 2024 Sep;133(3):479-482. doi: 10.1016/j.bja.2024.06.002. Epub 2024 Jul 3.

Authors

Gianni R Lorello¹, Alana M Flexman²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Anesthesia and Pain Management, University Health Network, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada; Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada; The Wilson Centre, Toronto, ON, Canada; Women's College Research Institute, Toronto, ON, Canada.
² Department of Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Department of Anesthesia, Providence Health Care, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada; Centre for Advancing Health Outcomes, St. Paul's Hospital, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Electronic address: alana.flexman@ubc.ca.

PMID: 38965014
DOI: 10.1016/j.bja.2024.06.002

Abstract

Accumulating evidence supports an effect of physician gender (or sex, a surrogate used in many studies) on important patient outcomes such as death, complications, and hospital length of stay. Recent studies suggest that these effects result from the gender diversity of the team rather than individual physician gender. Here, we reflect on the potential mechanisms of an effect of physician gender on patient outcomes.

Keywords: anaesthesiology; diversity; gender; patient outcomes; surgery.

Publication types

Editorial

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Length of Stay / statistics & numerical data
Male
Physicians* / psychology
Physicians, Women
Postoperative Complications / mortality
Sex Factors
Treatment Outcome