April 22, 2024

expert reaction to observational study finding that being treated by a female physician is associated with lower risk of death

A study published in Annals of Internal Medicine looks at the sex of physicians and risk of patient death. 

Dr Gavin Stewart, Senior Lecturer in Evidence Synthesis, Newcastle University, said:

“The use of a retrospective observational study design is a major limitation to this work. There is clearly potential for confounding. The lack of pre-registration is also a concern raising the possibilities of undetected hacking or harking introducing bias. The conclusions should be treated with circumspection unless corroborated by further studies.”

‘Comparison of Hospital Mortality and Readmission Rates by Physician and Patient Sex’ by Atsushi Miyawaki et al. was published in Annals of Internal Medicine at 10:00 UK time on Monday 22 April 2024.

DOI: 10.7326/M23-3163

Declared interests

Dr Stewart: No conflict of interest to declare.