Mortality of anesthesiologists, pediatricians, and other specialists in Norway

Background: Following sensational media reports, particularly from Sweden, there has been discussion in Scandinavia during the last couple of years about whether anesthesiologists have shorter life spans than other medical specialists. Methods: Survival analysis (Cox regression) from the master file of the Norwegian Medical Association was used to compare anesthesiologists with pediatricians and other specialists. Data was taken from 10 367 specialists, 533 anesthesiologists, 488 pediatricians, and 9325 other specialists, with Norwegian citizenship. These comprised 574 065 man-years, of which 171 190 were lived after achieving specialty. Conclusion: No differences in mortality were found between the three groups.