The relationship of gender and in-hospital death - Increased risk of death in men

OBJECTIVES. The prognostic importance of gender in hospitalized patients has been poorly studied. The current study compared in-hospital death rates between men and women after adjusting for severity of illness. DESIGN. Retrospective cohort study. PATIENTS. 89,793 eligible patients with 6 common nonsurgical diagnoses who were discharged from 30 hospitals in Northeast Ohio in 1991 to 1993. METHODS. Admission severity of illness tie, predicted risk of death) was calculated using multivariable models that were based on data abstracted from patients' clinical records (ROC curve areas, 0.85-0.90). In hospital death rates were then adjusted for predicted risks of death and other covariates using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS. Adjusted odds of death were higher (P < 0.05) in men, compared with women, for 4 diagnoses (stroke [OR, 1.60]; obstructive airway disease [OR, 1.38]; gastrointestinal hemorrhage [OR 1.32]; pneumonia [OR, 1.181) and similar for two diagnoses (congestive heart failure [OR, 1.12]; and acute myocardial infarction [OR, 0.97]). These differences were somewhat attenuated by excluding patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities or other hospitals from analysis; nonetheless, the odds of death in men remained higher for 3 diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS. The findings indicate that in hospital death rates are generally higher in men than in women, after adjusting for severity of illness. In addition, the risk of in-hospital death in men and women was influenced by diagnosis. These differences may reflect gender-related variation in the utilization of hospital services, the effectiveness of care, over- or underestimation of severity of illness, or biological differences in men and women.