Patients treated with a woman doctor may live longer and have a reduced risk of hospitalization, new research suggests.
These benefits were further observed in female patients compared to men, according to the study published in the peer-reviewed journal Annals of Internal Medicine.
“Among older adults hospitalized for a medical problem, mortality and readmission rates were lower for patients treated by female doctors than for those treated by male doctors – and the benefit of receiving treatment by of female doctors was greater for female patients than for male patients.” The study’s lead author, Dr. Yusuke Tsugawa, associate professor of medicine in residency in the division of general internal medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, told Fox News Digital.
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The study looked at 700,000 Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older who were hospitalized between 2016 and 2019.
The mortality rate was 8.15% for patients treated by female doctors, compared to 8.38% for those treated by male doctors, according to a UCLA Health press release.
Patients treated by a female doctor may live longer and have a reduced risk of hospitalization, a new study suggests. (iStock)
Dr. Shana Johnson, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician in Scottsdale, Arizonawho was not involved in the research, noted that the results are “clinically significant” because the difference translates into 1,053 additional patient deaths.
Male patients also had lower mortality rates when treated by female doctors, but the difference was smaller.
Why this difference?
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at Langone Medical Center of New York and a Fox News medical contributor, was not involved in the study but called the results “fascinating.”
“Women tend to have a higher empathy quotient, which can directly impact patient care, diagnosis and treatment,” he told Fox News Digital.
“There has been a patriarchy in medicine for a long time, and there may still be some undervaluing of women’s health issues or [doctors] viewing them as based on emotion,” Siegel added.
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There is a ‘growing awareness’ that doctors are more sensitive health problems when they can interact directly with their patients, the doctor noted.
“This applies to screening, diagnosis and treatment,” he said.
“Women tend to have a higher empathy quotient, which can directly impact patient care, diagnosis and treatment,” a former doctor told Fox News Digital. (iStock)
The results did not surprise the researchers, they said.
“Previous studies have shown that female patients treated by a female physician (compared to female patients treated by a male physician) are less likely to be underestimated in assessing and reporting symptom/disease severity …
