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Women Less Likely than Men to get Recommendation
for Knee Replacement
Updated 1/30/2010
March 11 issue of The Canadian Medical
Association Journal
Women are less likely than men to get a recommendation for
knee replacement, a Canadian study reports, even when they have the same
symptoms.
The researchers selected one man and one woman, both 67, who had identical
levels of knee osteoarthritis, as confirmed by two physicians who examined the
patients and their X-rays. Then the pair visited 29 orthopedic surgeons and 38
family physicians, with instructions to present their symptoms in exactly the
same way: a standard opening sentence describing their problem and ending with
the question, "Do you think I need a new knee?"
The researchers found that two-thirds of the doctors recommended knee
replacement for the man, while only one-third thought it appropriate for the
woman. The study, led by James Wright, professor of surgery at the University of
Toronto, appears in the March 11 issue of The Canadian Medical Association
Journal.
Only 12 of the doctors were women, not enough to determine whether male and
female doctors would perform differently. Of the female physicians, five
recommended surgery only to the man; two only to the woman; three to both; and
two to neither.
"Women are less likely to get this very effective surgical procedure," Wright
said. "They should be more aggressive in challenging doctors, especially by
getting second opinions."
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