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Dr Gérald Kierzek (Medical Director of Doctissimo)
Being treated by a female doctor would allow you to live longer than with a male doctor. What do you think of the results of this study? The point of view of Dr. Gérald Kierzek, emergency physician and medical director of Doctissimo.
According to the conclusions of this work published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, being cared for by a female doctor would allow you to live longer than if it were a man.
Lower mortality and readmission rates with female doctors
For this work, scientists from the University of California, Los Angeles, studied nearly 800,000 claims made to the American health insurance service (Medicare), claims filed by patients between 2016 and 2019. They also recorded the number of people who died within 30 days of being seen by a doctor.
Result: patients treated by a female doctor obtain better results and this is all the more significant for female patients. In detail, 8.15% of women treated by female doctors died within 30 days, compared to 8.38% of women treated by male doctors. The researchers also stated that “the trend was similar for patient readmission rates“.
Saving 5,000 lives every year
Although the gap seems small, researchers assure that closing this difference could save the lives of 5,000 women each year. Another way of looking at things: for every 1000 patients treated, two additional patients would survive if treated by a woman.
Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, lead author of the study, explains: “Our results indicate that female and male physicians practice medicine differently. And that these differences have a significant impact on patient health outcomes.”
The team of researchers puts forward different hypotheses to explain these results. This could be because female doctors communicate better with their female patients, which would ultimately lead to better diagnoses and more effective treatments.
Female patients may also be more comfortable engaging in detailed and sensitive conversations with doctors of the same gender. According to scientists, ““further research is needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms linking physician gender to patient outcomes.”
A study criticized by some doctors
When these results were published, many doctors were offended, arguing that this study demonstrated nothing. Asked about these results, Dr Gérald Kierzek, emergency doctor and medical director of Doctissimo, fears an increase in discrimination. “Thinking that we need female doctors to better care for women opens the door to all kinds of discrimination” estimates the expert.
“It is important to remember that in medicine, the Code of Ethics requires that a doctor treat everyone, regardless of their sex, origin, skin color… without any discrimination. And it works both ways: caring and cared for! We must be and remain universal in care.” he concludes.