SynthesisBMC medicine2015
Sex differences in medico-legal action against doctors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Patient characteristics of, and remedial interventions for, complaints and medico-legal claims against doctors: a rapid review of the literature.Systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Prediction of Medical Disputes Between Health Care Workers and Patients in Terms of Hospital Legal Construction Using Machine Learning Techniques: Externally Validated Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of medical Internet research · 2023Trial
- Medicolegal litigation in general surgery: a comparison between England and the United States.Health research policy and systems · 2025Article
- Patient complaints differ for male and female obstetrician-gynecologists: an exploration of 20 years of complaints data in Alberta, Canada.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2025Article
- Leadership development as a novel strategy to mitigate burnout among female physicians.PloS one · 2025Article
- Risk factors and management of medical disputes: An analysis of preliminary appraisal reports.PloS one · 2025Article
- Analysis of the characteristics, efficiency, and influencing factors of third-party mediation mechanisms for resolving medical disputes in public hospitals in China.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Risk identification and prediction of complaints and misconduct against health practitioners: a scoping review.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2024Article
- Dentist Disciplinary Action: What Do Dentists Get in Trouble for?Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2023Article
- Pharmacist Disciplinary Action: What Do Pharmacists Get in Trouble for?Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2023Article
- Article
- Socio-Demographic, Professional and Institutional Characteristics That Make Romanian Doctors More Prone to Malpractice Complaints.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Association between hospital legal constructions and medical disputes: A multi-center analysis of 130 tertiary hospitals in Hunan Province, China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Physician factors associated with medical errors in Norwegian primary care emergency services.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2021Article
- Article
- Physician factors associated with increased risk for complaints in primary care emergency services: a case - control study.BMC family practice · 2020Article
- The Association Between Physician Race/Ethnicity and Patient Satisfaction: an Exploration in Direct to Consumer Telemedicine.Journal of general internal medicine · 2020Observational
- Engagement, not personal characteristics, was associated with the seriousness of regulatory adjudication decisions about physicians: a cross-sectional study.BMC medicine · 2019Article
- Effect of sex on specialty training application outcomes: a longitudinal administrative data study of UK medical graduates.BMJ open · 2019Article
- Physician Workforce Disparities and Patient Care: A Narrative Review.Health equity · 2019Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe relationship between male sex and poor performance in doctors remains unclear, with high profile studies showing conflicting results. Nevertheless, it is an important first step towards understanding the causes of poor performance in doctors. This article aims to establish the robustness of the association between male sex and poor performance in doctors, internationally and over time.
methodsThe electronic databases MEDLINE, EMBASE, and PsycINFO were searched from inception to January 2015. Backward and forward citation searching was performed. Journals that yielded the majority of the eligible articles and journals in the medical education field were electronically searched, along with the conference and poster abstracts from two of the largest international medical education conferences. Studies reporting original data, written in English or French, examining the association between sex and medico-legal action against doctors were included. Two reviewers independently extracted study characteristics and outcome data from the full texts of the studies meeting the eligibility criteria. Study quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. A random effect meta-analysis model was used to summarize and assess the effect of doctors' sex on medico-legal action. Extracted outcomes included disciplinary action by a medical regulatory board, malpractice experience, referral to a medical regulatory body, complaints received by a healthcare complaints body, criminal cases, and medico-legal matter with a medical defence organisation.
resultsOverall, 32 reports examining the association between doctors' sex and medico-legal action were included in the systematic review (n=4,054,551), of which 27 found that male doctors were more likely to have experienced medico-legal action. 19 reports were included in the meta-analysis (n=3,794,486, including 20,666 cases). Results showed male doctors had nearly two and a half times the odds of being subject to medico-legal action than female doctors. Heterogeneity was present in all meta-analyses.
conclusionMale doctors are more likely to have had experienced medico-legal actions compared to female doctors. This finding is robust internationally, across outcomes of varying severity, and over time.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.