How old is your attending physician? If this question seems ridiculous to you, wait to find out more: According to a new study conducted in the United States by a doctor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Anupam Jena, the oldest doctors have a death rate. higher among their patients …
This work is based on medical data concerning 700,000 hospitalizations that took place between 2011 and 2014 in the United States; a total of 19,000 doctors are concerned. Results ? Healthcare professionals under the age of 40 had, on average, a patient mortality rate of 10.8% – quite low, therefore. But for doctors aged 50 to 59, that statistic rose to 11.3%. And beyond the age of 60, doctors had a death rate for their patients of 12% on average …
In France, the average age of doctors is 51
How to explain this gradual increase? The scientists responsible for this study (published this Tuesday, May 16, 2017 in the specialist journal British Medical Journal), lean in favor of several hypotheses: first, it is possible that the most delicate cases are entrusted to the most experienced doctors … therefore the older ones. Deuzio, the “old” doctors could also be those who have the least affinity with new technologies and / or new techniques, which could explain the increase in their mortality rate. Third, the authors of the study do not rule out a possible decline in skills.
According to the Drees – the section of the Ministry of Health responsible for statistics – the average age of doctors in France was 51 years old on January 1, 2016. In Corsica, in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, in Charente, in Cher, Dordogne, Eure, Gers, Lot and Lozère, the average age even reaches 54 years. The oldest specialty was medical gynecology with, on average, doctors aged 60.
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