Observational studyBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2020
Patient mortality after surgery on the surgeon's birthday: observational study.
Observational study in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Impact of spring festival on pregnancy outcomes in patients undergoing first embryo transfer: a retrospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Exploring the Birthday Week Effect on Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease in Yunnan Province, China, From 2008 to 2022: Surveillance Data Analysis.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2024Article
- The role of surgeon's intuition for acute type A aortic dissection in an era of evidence-based medicine: a prospective cohort study.Journal of thoracic disease · 2023Article
- Inequities in surgical outcomes by race and sex in the United States: retrospective cohort study.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Article
- Article
- Facing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: How Can We Allocate Outpatient Doctor Resources More Effectively?Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2022Article
- The outcomes of carpal tunnel decompression based on electro-diagnostic approaches and clinical symptoms in patients suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS).Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2022Article
- Magnitude of post-operative mortality and associated factors among patients who underwent surgery in Wolaita Sodo teaching and referral hospital, SNNPR region, Ethiopia.African health sciences · 2021Article
- Work and pleasure-a 'heady mix'?Indian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo determine whether patient mortality after surgery differs between surgeries performed on surgeons' birthdays compared with other days of the year.
designRetrospective observational study.
settingUS acute care and critical access hospitals.
participants100% fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 to 99 years who underwent one of 17 common emergency surgical procedures in 2011-14.
main outcome measuresPatient postoperative 30 day mortality, defined as death within 30 days after surgery, with adjustment for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects.
results980 876 procedures performed by 47 489 surgeons were analyzed. 2064 (0.2%) of the procedures were performed on surgeons' birthdays. Patient characteristics, including severity of illness, were similar between patients who underwent surgery on a surgeon's birthday and those who underwent surgery on other days. The overall unadjusted 30 day mortality on the operating surgeon's birthday was 7.0% (145/2064) and that on other days was 5.6% (54 824/978 812). After adjusting for patient characteristics and surgeon fixed effects (effectively comparing outcomes of patients treated by the same surgeon on different days), patients who underwent surgery on a surgeon's birthday exhibited higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days (adjusted mortality rate, 6.9%
conclusionsAmong Medicare beneficiaries who underwent common emergency surgeries, those who received surgery on the surgeon's birthday experienced higher mortality compared with patients who underwent surgery on other days. These findings suggest that surgeons might be distracted by life events that are not directly related to work.
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