Significance of the physician's and the patient's sex in hospitalized patients with community-acquired pneumonia.

Background: Numerous studies have revealed that the sex of the patient or of the attending physician have impact on patient care, treatment, morbidity and mortality. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common cause of hospitalization, antibiotic treatment and intensive care unit (ICU) admission. The purpose of this study was to examine if the patient's or the attending physicians' sex may influence the management of hospitalized patients with CAP.

Methods: Our study included 826 consecutive inpatients with CAP (404 females, and 422 male patients, 429 patients initially treated by a female physician and 397 patients initially treated by a male physician). We examined if the patient's, or the initial attending physician's sex, affected treatment and outcome in patients with CAP.

Results: Patients mean age was 69 years, 30-day mortality 9%. By use of the pneumonia severity index, male patients were found to be more severely ill at admission ( = .0008). Fewer female physicians' patients were admitted from the emergency department (ED) to the ICU when compared to male physicians' patients, 5% versus 10% ( = .006), and female physicians' patients received their first intravenous (IV) antibiotic dose later than male physicians' patients in the ED ( = .003).

Conclusion: Our study indicates that the sex of the attending physician may affect the chosen level of care and antibiotic treatment, and that admitted male patients with CAP were more seriously ill than admitted female patients with CAP.