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. 2024 May 7;45(17):1505-1511.
doi: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehae121.

Patient-physician sex concordance and outcomes in cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

Lamia Harik  1 , Ko Yamamoto  2 , Takeshi Kimura  2 , Lisa Q Rong  3 , Birgit Vogel  4 , Roxana Mehran  4 , C Noel Bairey-Merz  5 , Mario Gaudino  1
Affiliations

Patient-physician sex concordance and outcomes in cardiovascular disease: a systematic review

Lamia Harik et al. Eur Heart J. .

Abstract

The sex disparity in outcomes of patients with cardiovascular disease is well-described and has persisted across recent decades. While there have been several proposed mechanisms to explain this disparity, there are limited data on female patient-physician sex concordance and its association with outcomes. The authors review the existing literature on the relationship between patient-physician sex concordance and clinical outcomes in patients with cardiovascular disease, the evidence of a benefit in clinical outcomes with female patient-physician sex concordance, and the possible drivers of such a benefit and highlight directions for future study.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Clinical outcomes; Patient–physician sex concordance; Sex concordance; Sex disparity; Women’s health.

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Figures

Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Proposed drivers for a benefit of female patient–physician sex concordance on clinical outcomes. Created with BioRender.
Figure 1
Figure 1
Sex concordance and predicted probability of patient survival with 90% confidence intervals. Estimates include controls and hospital quarter fixed effects. Covariates held at sample means. Reproduced with permission from Greenwood et al.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Association between female authors and enrolment of female participants per heart failure trial. Reproduced with permission from Reza et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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