Women more likely to die under male surgeons’ care
The findings have prompted calls to urgently address the paucity of female surgeons
Women have a greater risk of death or post-surgical complications when they are operated on by a male rather than a female surgeon, a landmark Canadian study suggests.
After accounting for surgery type and hospital-related factors, female patients were 32% more likely to die within 30 days of surgery when operated on by a man, data from more than 1.3 million patients show.
In addition, they had a 16% higher risk of postoperative complications and were 11% more likely to be readmitted, say researchers from the University of Toronto.
They were also 20% more likely to have a longer hospital stay.
