Men Get Better Hospital Care Than Women

"Among older patients, being female was associated with a 20-per-cent increased risk of death in ICU, an eight-per-cent increased risk of death in hospital and six-per-cent increased risk of death over one year," reports a medical team that looked at almost 500,000 patients admitted to 13 Ontario hospitals over two years. The report, to be published in the Dec. 4 issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal, is being held up as clear evidence of gender disparities in the quality and provision of health care. Dr. Arlene Bierman, of the University of Toronto, describes the differences in death rates between older men and women in ICU as "particularly troubling." Dr. Nancy Baxter of Toronto's St. Michael's Hospital notes that the study focuses on critically ill patients who had already been admitted to hospital "where it is assumed that care is delivered strictly on the basis of need." But the study, she says, "demonstrates that the sex of the patient influences not only the care he or she receives in ICU, but also whether he or she is admitted to ICU in the first place." ... http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=73fdba42-e24b-403e-be80-3cdfa05195b8

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