A recent study has found that the mortality rate of patients treated by female doctors was lower than that of those treated by male doctors. According to a report in The Times of the UK on the 22nd (local time), the research team at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) revealed this result from a study involving 800,000 hospital patients. The research team emphasized that female patients treated by female doctors showed a lower likelihood of readmission within 30 days after discharge, with the effect being particularly noticeable in women. The team analyzed that this difference may be because male doctors tend to underestimate the severity of diseases in female patients.
The research team pointed out that the mortality rate of female patients treated by female doctors was 8.15%, but it was 8.38% when treated by male doctors. Moreover, the mortality rate of male patients treated by female doctors within 30 days after discharge was 10.15%, but it was slightly higher at 10.23% when treated by male doctors. The team also reported that the 30-day readmission rate for female patients treated by female doctors was 15.23%, whereas it was 16.71% for those treated by male doctors.
Yusuke Tsugawa, an associate professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, explained that the study shows that female and male doctors have different treatment approaches, which significantly impacts treatment outcomes. The study was based on Medicare claims data in the United States from 2016 to 2019, with 319,800 male and 458,100 female patients participating. Among them, 31% of the patients were treated by female doctors.