Surgeon Gender and Post-Operative In-Hospital Mortality Post-Operative Mortality

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Published Nov 29, 2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v9i11.2591

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Main Article Content

Tara M Barry
University of South Florida Department of Surgery 2 Tampa General Circle Tampa, FL 33606
Haroon M Janjua
Department of Surgery University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA
Evelena Cousin-Peterson
Department of Surgery University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA
Mary Ottinger
Department of Surgery University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA
Paul C Kuo
Department of Surgery University of South Florida, Tampa, FL USA

Abstract

Background: Prior studies report improved mortality rates for patients of female internists, few studies have evaluated the effect of surgeon gender on post-operative mortality.


Methods: A retrospective analysis using the Agency for Health Care Administration Florida database from 2010-2015 examined patients undergoing one of 25 selected surgical procedures. Surgeon gender (self-reported), number of Medicare beneficiaries and years of experience were imported from CMS Physician Compare/Provider Utilization & Payment Data set using NPI. 25 procedures of varying complexity from all subspecialties were selected. For each procedure, inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) was used to match cases performed by male vs female surgeons to achieve maximum balance between the groups.


Results: There were 73,994 admissions for patients undergoing surgical procedures performed by 2,828 surgeons(361 females, 2467 males). Fewer patients who had emergent procedures performed by female surgeons died in the hospital(291/13957,2.08% vs 348/14017,2.48% p=0.026). Those who underwent the following procedures had significantly lower rates of in-hospital mortality if the surgeon was female: CABG(2/387,0.52% vs 8/387,2.07%), mastectomy(2/4797,0.04% vs 10/4797,0.21%), open cholecystectomy(7/955,0.73% vs 17/955, 1.78%) all p≤0.05.


Conclusion: Patients who underwent CABG, mastectomy and open cholecystectomy had lower rates of in-hospital mortality if the surgeon was female while male surgeons did not have a significant mortality advantage for any procedure. Further studies examining national data may provide additional insight regarding the effect of surgeon gender on patient outcomes.

Article Details

How to Cite
BARRY, Tara M et al. Surgeon Gender and Post-Operative In-Hospital Mortality. Medical Research Archives, [S.l.], v. 9, n. 11, nov. 2021. ISSN 2375-1924. Available at: <https://esmed.org/MRA/mra/article/view/2591>. Date accessed: 21 nov. 2024. doi: https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v9i11.2591.
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Issue
Vol 9 No 11 (2021): Vol.9 Issue 11 November 2021
Section
Research Articles

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