Hospitals with higher sex diversity in anesthesia-surgery teams saw significantly better postoperative outcomes, with reduced major morbidity rates, according to a recent study.
The retrospective cohort study was published in the British Journal of Surgery. Researchers analyzed data from 709,899 major inpatient surgeries conducted in Ontario, Canada, between 2009-2019, using multivariable logistic regression to associate outcomes.
The researchers found care in hospitals with higher sex diversity (over 35% female representation) was linked to a 3% reduction in 90-day major morbidity (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.97; 95% CI, 0.95-0.99; P = 0.02). The link was more pronounced for patients treated by female anesthetists (OR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.97; P = 0.002) and female surgeons (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.76-0.90; P < 0.001).
"The present work provides novel information by shifting understanding of the benefits of diversity in perioperative performance from individual clinicians towards teams,” said researchers. “This team-level analysis challenges the binary approach comparing female and male clinicians and supports team sex diversity as a potential asset in enhancing care quality."
The study was funded by the Sunnybrook Alternate Funding Plan Innovation Fund. The authors reported no conflicts of interest.