A recent review of nearly 582,000 heart attack cases over the span of 19 years found that female patients had a significantly higher survival rate when treated by a female physician in the emergency department.
A recent review of nearly 582,000 heart attack cases over the span of 19 years found that female patients had a significantly higher survival rate when treated by a female physician in the emergency department (ED).
“We find that gender concordance increases a patient’s probability of surviving a [heart attack] and that the effect is driven by increased mortality when male physicians treat female patients,” said Brad Greenwood, MD, associate professor at the University of Minnesota and lead investigator on the study, in a statement.
Researchers reviewed records from Florida ED admissions for heart attacks between 1991 and 2010. The study authors considered many factors, including a patients’ age, gender, whether they had prior heart problems, whether the patient died during their stay at the hospital, and if the ED doctor primarily in charge of their care was a man or a woman.
Of the 580,000 patient records studied, 11.9% of heart attack patients died while in the hospital. However, when patients shared the same gender as their doctor, the probability of death fell 0.6% once all factors were considered.
For patients treated by female physicians, the gender disparity in survival rates was about 0.2%; specifically, 11.8% of male patients died, versus about 12% of women. However, for patients treated by male physicians, the gender disparity in survival rates increased to 0.7%, where 12.6% of men died compared with 13.3% of women. In addition, the researchers author noted that female survival rates also rose as the percentage of female doctors in the ED rose, particularly if the treating physician was male.
“These results suggest a reason why gender inequality in heart attack mortality persists: most physicians are male, and male physicians appear to have trouble treating female patients,” noted the study authors.
There could be a few reasons for this trend, Greenwood noted, such as female patients feeling more comfortable advocating for themselves when treated by a member of the same sex, as well as the fact that women tend to present heart attack symptoms atypically and female physicians may be better at picking up on those cues.
The results of the study have led authors to suggest that training programs should become more gender neutral and provide increased emphasis on how men and women might present symptoms differently.
Reference
Greenwood B, Carnahan S, Huang L. Patient­—physician gender concordance and increased mortality among female heart attack patients. PNAS. 2018;115(34):8569-8574. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1800097115.
The Pivotal Role of Payers in Improving Health Equity, Maternal Health Care in the US
March 26th 2024A presentation at the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health's 2024 Women’s Health Summit discussed how payers, including employers and public entities, can strategically influence health care purchasing to prioritize maternal health and equity.
Read More
Addressing Maternal Mortality in Medicaid by Focusing on Mental Health
February 15th 2023On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Inland Empire Health Plan, a managed care plan serving more than 1.4 million residents on Medi-Cal in California, about a new maternal mental health program aimed at supporting new mothers, both before they give birth and afterward.
Listen
For National Women’s Health Week, One Company Emphasizes Cardiovascular Risk Management
May 10th 2022On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Joanne Armstrong, MD, MPH, vice president and chief medical officer for Women’s Health and Genomics at CVS Health, on the distinct pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease in women and how her own health experiences have influenced her perspective on cardiovascular disease management.
Listen