Men or women: scientists have found out who are the best doctors

Scientists have found that women are better doctors than men.

This was reported by SSPDaily.

A new study has shown that patients are less likely to die when their doctor is a woman, and the risk is even lower for female patients. Patients are also less likely to be re-hospitalized after being discharged from the hospital if they were treated by a female doctor.

The authors of the study believe that several factors may be behind these differences, and suggest that male doctors may underestimate the severity of their patients' illnesses.

Previous research has also shown that male doctors underestimate the level of pain, gastrointestinal and cardiovascular symptoms, and stroke risk in female patients, which can lead to untimely or incomplete care.

Senior author of the study, Professor Yusuke Tsugawa, said that patient outcomes should not differ between male and female doctors if they practice medicine in the same way.

"Our results suggest that female and male doctors practice medicine differently, and these differences have a significant impact on patient outcomes," he said.

The team from the University of Tokyo and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) analyzed health insurance claims of more than 458,000 women and 319,000 men between 2016 and 2019. 142,500 and 97,500 of them - about 31% for both sexes - were treated by female doctors.

The mortality rate among patients was 8.15% when they were treated by women, compared to 8.38% when the doctor was a manThis may not seem like much, but when it comes to such high numbers, it is a "clinically significant" difference, the researchers say.

Although the difference for male patients was slightly smaller, female doctors still had an advantage with a mortality rate of 10.15% compared to 10.23% for male doctors.

An American research team found the same pattern for readmission rates.

The team suggested that female doctors may be able to communicate better with their patients, which increases the likelihood that patients will provide important information that will help to better diagnose and treat them.

They also noted that female patients may feel more comfortable undergoing sensitive examinations and engaging in detailed conversations with female doctors.

However, the authors noted that more research is needed on how and why male and female doctors practice medicine differently, and this affects patient care.

Professor Tsugawa, from the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said: "A better understanding of this topic could lead to the development of interventions that will effectively improve patient care."

He says the gender pay gap among doctors also needs to be addressed.

Prof. Tsugawa added: "It is important to note that women doctors provide high quality care, and therefore having more women doctors benefits patients from a societal perspective."