Patient/surgeon gender concordance not associated with differences in mortality after surgery in the United States

1. In this retrospective cohort study, postoperative mortality was similar regardless of gender concordance between patients and surgeons. 

Evidence Rating Level: 2 (Good)

Surgical outcomes are influenced by many factors, including patient comorbidities, disease characteristics, and the quality of perioperative care. Researchers aimed to determine whether there is an association between patient and surgeon gender concordance and mortality within 30 days of surgery. Patient, surgeon, and hospital characteristics were adjusted for as confounding variables. 2,902,756 patients aged 65 or older undergoing surgery were included in this study. 44.4% of participants had a surgeon of the same gender, 41.4% male patient and male surgeon, and 3.0% female patient and female surgeon. 55.6% had surgeons of different genders, 1.8% male patient and female surgeon, and 53.8% female patient and male surgeon. 30-day mortality was 2.0% for male patient and male surgeon pairs, 1.7% for male patient and female surgeon pairs, 1.5% for female patient and male surgeon pairs, and 1.3% for female patient and female surgeon pairs. Overall, gender concordance between patient and surgeon was associated with reduced mortality risk for females, (adjusted risk difference −0.2%; 95% CI −0.3 to −0.1; P<0.001) and increased mortality risk for males (0.3%; 95% CI, 0.2 to 0.5; P<0.001). A limitation of this study is that only the genders of patients and surgeons were considered, while potential associations between the genders of patients and nurses, anesthesiologists, and other members of the healthcare team were not assessed. As well, the study did not include individuals younger than 65, so the data may not be generalizable to younger populations. Overall, this large cohort study demonstrated that postoperative mortality was similar with and without gender concordance between physicians and surgeons.  

Click to read the study in BMJ

Image: PD

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