A new study suggests that women are more likely to survive health issues when their doctors are also women. The study, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, looked at Medicare patients over three years and found that women treated by female doctors had a lower mortality rate than those treated by male doctors. The study also found that women were less likely to be re-admitted to the hospital under a female doctor’s care. The difference in mortality rates was small, but researchers said that even such a small difference is statistically significant and noteworthy. The study looked at Medicare patients over the age of 65, so the findings may not be generalizable to younger populations. However, the researchers said that their findings suggest that there may be something about the doctor-patient relationship between women and female doctors that leads to better outcomes for female patients. More research is needed to determine what these factors are.
Female Doctors May Improve Survival Outcomes for Female Patients
