A study recently published by JAMA Surgery found that surgeons face a significantly higher mortality risk than other physicians.
The study examined U.S. death certificate records from the 2023 National Vital Statistics System for adults aged 25-74. The records included demographics, cause of death and usual occupation as reported by the informant.
Mortality rates were calculated using population denominators from the 2023 American Community Survey, stratified by age, sex and profession. The figures for physicians and surgeons were cross-referenced with the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, a population-based registry of physicians.
The study included 1,080,298 deaths, comprising 224 surgeons and 2740 other physicians. While nonsurgeon physicians were the primary comparison group, lawyers, engineers and scientists were also included because of similar education and income profiles. All other professions were grouped separately.
Here’s five takeaways from the study:
1. The adjusted mortality rate for surgeons was similar to that of lawyers, engineers and scientists, but lower than that of the broader workforce. Mortality rates were age and sex-adjusted to the 2000 U.S. standard population using direct standardization. Mortality rate ratios were used to quantify relative risks across professional groups.
2. Road traffic accidents ranked as the fourth most common cause of death among surgeons, compared with ninth rank for all other professions.
3. Surgeons were also more likely to die from hypertension-related disease and assaults.
4. Surgeons also saw a notably higher mortality due to cancer compared with nonsurgeons.
5.The elevated risk to surgeons may reflect variance in workplace demands, schedules and exposures. The higher occurrence of death due to road traffic accidents, for example, is consistent with data showing that road traffic accidents related to long working hours are more frequent among surgeons.
